

( 



THE 



Catholic spirit 



OF 



TRUE RELIGION. 

/ 



" For as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of 
that one body, being many, are one body, so also is Chi'ist." — 1 Cor. xiii. 12. 



LONDON : 

PRINTED FOR SCOTT, WEBSTER, AND GEARY, 

CHARTER-HOUSE SQUARE. 

MDCCCXL. 




PRINTED BY WEILL Z W CO. OLD FISHMARRET, EDINBU 



PREFACE, 



The main argument of this work is to prove, that whatever 
the ecclesiastical order which may prevail in the Millennium, 
yet, in reference to the present epoch, — not an outward uni- 
formity over all (as the Church of Rome contends for), but 
an unity of spirit in variety of forms (as in the churches of 
the Reformation), is a constitution of the Catholic Church 
answerable to the light of reason, of sacred history, and of 
Scripture ; — that, in keeping with this state of things, reli- 
gious men of every evangelical denomination are called upon 
as disciples of Jesus Christ, and the Redeemed of the Lord, 
to entertain towards each other, and the communions they 
severally belong to, feelings of mutual recognition and es- 
teem ; and thus to seek to arrive at truth and ultimate unity 
over all, through the medium of mutual love in Christ Jesus. 

A friendly Churchman to whom this was stated, said, on 
hearing it, that he inferred, from the attempt to advocate 
such a theme, that the Author was a Dissenter; and that no 
doubt it was a work of the same order as several others which 
had lately appeared in this country, which, though they 
professed to maintain a truly catholic spirit, yet were in 
reality written in the interest of dissent. He also expressed 
himself at a loss to understand what was meant by " The 
Churches of the Reformation." 

To this it was replied, that the Author, though he desired 
to keep all things personal " to himself before God," even 
to the suppression of his name, was no Dissenter ; that it 
would be found, on perusal, that his work was not written in 
the interest of dissent ; and that, w" h regard to the expres- 
sion objected to, he spoke of the Churches of the Reformation, 
in contrast with the Church of Rome, for the sam e reasons as 



iv 



PREFACE. 



oblige us all to speak of the States of Modern Europe, in con- 
trast with the Roman Empire. The volume itself was at the 
same time opened at page 221, and the more full develope 
ment of this idea, which is given there, was read. " I see 
what you mean," was the reply ; but still the good Church 
man would not say Amen. This taught the Author that his 
theme will meet with objections where he would wish i£ 
most to be received at once. Believing, as he most firmly 
does, however, that intelligent Christians generally, whether 
Churchmen or Dissenters, will come at last to the conclusion 
which he has himself arrived at, after an education which 
prepossessed him in favour of more stringent views of the 
constitution of the visible church, he " casts his bread upon 
the waters," happy with the thought of bearing such a tes- 
timony at such a moment ; and though deeply sensible of 
the many imperfections of his work, and shrinking altoge- 
ther from the criticism of the mere dogmatist, yet trusting 
confidently in the communion and sympathy of the pious, 
and of all who duly feel that the kingdom of God is not 
meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, and joy, in 
the Holy Ghost. 

As a work to which he owes much (though he of course 
also differs from it much), the Author begs to refer to the 
" Introduction a l Histoire Universelle," of M. Michelet — 
a tract in which the finest generalities of historic truth are 
treated with such poetic feeling as to leave the impression on 
the reader, when he has perused it, that he has awoke from 
a beautiful dream. He begs also to notice a work entitled 
" Religious Dissensions, their Cause and Cure, a prize essay, 
by Pharcellus Church, author of the Philosophy of Bene- 
volence, New York, 1838," a volume full of thought. It will 
be found, on perusal, that the resemblance between the work 
now in the reader's hands, and that most cogent one on a 
branch of the same subject, lately published by Dr Nolan, 
lies in the title only. 

London, November 1839. 



CONTENTS. 



PART I.— INTRODUCTION. 

Page 
3 

it; 

19 

21 
34 

PART II.— PRINCIPLES AND CONSIDERATIONS. 



The Supremacy of Revelation, . . . .47 

Tradition, . . . • . . 48 

An Infallible Church, . . . . .55 

Reason and Conscience, . . . . 66 

Grace, . . . . . . .68 

Christian Liberty, . .... 75 

Toleration, . . ..... 81 

Unity and Uniformity, ..... 93 

The Substitution, . . . . . .98 

The Prepossession, . . . . .102 

The Question, ...... 107 

PART III.— THE LIGHT OF SACRED HISTORY. 

The Biele, . . . . . .111 

Paradise, . . . . . . .113 



The Occasion, 
The Apology, 
The Manner, 
The Idea, 
The Title, 



iv 



CONTENTS. 



Page 

The Cherubim, . . . . . 118 

Cain and Abel, ...... 123 

The Antediluvian World, .... 127 

Noah, . - . . . . . . 129 

Babel, ..... .132 

The Priest, ....... 137 

The Hindu, . . . . . . 141 

The Brahmin, ... 143 

The Patriarch, . . * . . 149 
Abraham and Melchisedec, . . . .151 

The Egyptians, .... . 154 

The Israelites. ...... 157 

God's Choice, ...... 158 

The Necessity, . . . . . . 159 

Moses, ....... 162 

The Judges, ....... 166 

The Levites, ...... 168 

Jethro, ....... 171 

The Constitution, . . . . 174 

The Pharisee, ...... 177 

The Christian Theocracy, .... 179 

The Sacrifice, ...... 190 

The Ministry, . . . . . . 192 

Primitive Christianity, ..... 194 

The Primitive Church, .... 199 

The Medieval Church, ..... 212 

The Churches of the Reformation, . . . 221 

PART IV. — THE LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE PRINCIPLES 
AND PRECEPTS. 

Scripture Principles and Precepts, . . . .231 

The Law, ...... 232 

The Prophets, ...... 242 



CONTENTS. 



V 



Page 

The Evangelists, ..... 248 

The Apostles, ...... 265 

The Whole Bible, ..... 299 



PART V.— THE LIGHT OF REASON. 

On the Limits to Uniformity implied in the very idea of 

an extended object or institution, such as a church, 307 

The Argument from the Analogy of Nature, . . '311 

The Argument from the Principles of Beauty, . 320 

On the Argument from Utility, .... 327 

The Argument from the Interpretation of Scripture, 338 
The Argument from the Limited Nature of the Human 

Mind, . . . . . . . 359 

Conclusion, ...... 372 



ERRATA. 



Page 161, line 4, for of read by 

— 200, — i,for sacraments read sacrament 

— 214, — 4, for had read and 



PART I. 
INTRODUCTION. 



THE OCCASION. 
THE APOLOGY. 
THE MANNER. 
THE IDEA, 
THE TITLE. 



A 



THE OCCASION. 



There are in our country, at the present moment, a 
great many devotedly religious persons, who are very ex- 
clusive in their religious views ; and their numbers are 
daily increasing. There are also a great many others 
who have no toleration for these exclusives. Thus, ex- 
clusiveness on the one hand, is met by intolerance on the 
other. Coldness, or else mutual recrimination follows. 
And very many who are noted by the world for their re- 
ligiousness, exhibit to the world, instead of the fruits of 
the Spirit, only unsocial feelings, or angry passions. In- 
stead of 4 ' love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, 
goodness, faith, meekness, temperance,"* they exhibit 
moroseness, contention, haste, anger, in a word, all the 
opposites of the Christian graces. 

Our blessed Saviour said, " By this shall all men know 
that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one toward 
another." t He gave to the world mutual love among 
his followers, as the criterion of true discipleship. But 
his words are disregarded. The many in the church, just 
like the many in the world, love each other only when 
they happen to be of the same society or party. Where- 
ever there are differences, then, in the church, just as in 
the world, there are contentions. Are we to wonder, 
then, if the world, not caring to inquire into the merits 
of religious questions, but always quick to observe faults 

* Gal. v. 22. f John xiii. 35. 



4 



THE OCCASION. 



among those who profess to be religious, should form hard 
judgments of religion itself, which appears to them to 
be the cause of such perversion of the social affections, 
and of such disturbance of society ? Are we to wonder 
if the world should wish to attenuate, or even at once to 
extinguish, religion ? No. The world has good ground 
to stand upon when it condemns those whose conduct 
and profession accord so ill. The children of this world 
are in their generation wiser than the children of light. 
They feel they are safe in resisting the religion which 
bears such bitter fruits. They know that it cannot be 
the true religion which actuates the contentious man ; 
and hence their power. And hence the severity of those 
stripes by which the self-dividing and self-consuming 
church is now chastised by the world, which has always 
been united against it, but never was so strong before. 

u All the law," says St Paul, " is fulfilled in one word, 
even in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.' 1 * 
Such is the code of Christian morality. And this is all. 
How heavenly in itself ! How congenial to the warm 
and grateful heart to keep it ! But how went it with the 
keeping of this law, even in the Apostles' days ? " If ye 
bite and devour one another (the Apostle adds), take 
heed lest ye be consumed of one another." f And how 
goes it with the keeping of this law in the present day ? 
Have not we as much need to take heed as the first 
Christians had ? Have we not more ? We have not, like 
them, supernatural endowments amongst us to keep us 
together, and to enable us to make head against the 
world, and to convince it. In our case every thing de- 
pends on our Christianity. Inspired guidance has ceased. 
Miracles have been withdrawn ; and if charity fail, what 
will become of us ? Plainly, in that case, we cease to 
be of the Church of Christ ; for, in the Church of Christ, 
♦ Gal. v. 14. f Gal. v. 15. 



THE OCCASION. 



5 



charity never faileth.* " Whether there be prophecies, 
they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall 
cease ; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. 
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part ; and when 
that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part 
shall be done away." But charity never faileth. 

Now, looking around us, is not one unwarrantably ex- 
clusive, and another unwarrantably intolerant of the ex- 
clusiveness of the first (let me not say of his own exclu- 
sion) ? Well, then, — why this on either hand ? Is it that 
we ought to "contend," — that we ought ' 4 to strive for the 
faith of the Gospel." Good. Only let it be against the 
" adversaries 1 ' of the Gospel, and in the way which the 
apostle commands, when, in this one instance, he speaks 
favourably of striving, that is, let all of us, " standing 
fast in one spirit, with one mind, strive together." t 
Or is it in general terms that we must maintain truth, 
oppose error, and preserve communion and religious in- 
tercourse pure, because this alone is true Christian wis- 
dom, this alone the wisdom that is from above ? Good 
again. <; The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then 
peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, and full of mercy 
and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypo- 
crisy.'^ It is first pure. But, trusting that this refers to 
doctrines, how, let me ask, is this purity to be sought and 
exemplified ? The apostle informs us in the next clause. 
" The fruit of righteousness," says he, " is sown in peace." 
And would but all those who love righteousness and 
truth, instead of indulging in the irascible movements of 
Self, mistaking them for holy zeal, only mark this cha- 
racteristic of heavenly wisdom, and in the terms of it, be- 
gin to sow in peace henceforth — Oh, then, what a beauti- 
ful spring-time in the church ! what a blessed revival of 



1 Cor. xiii. 8 



+ Phil. i. 27. 



+ James iii. 17- 



6 



THE OCCASION. 



primitive Christianity ! how soon would many a field be 
white unto a rich harvest of the fruits of the Spirit ! 

Let us then begin at once with the endeavour to sow 
in peace. Let us calmly ask, in the interest of those who 
are exclusive, whether this so-called exclusiveness really 
be a fault, — and granting it is found to be so, still, whether 
it ought to be charged at the outset, I need not say with 
intolerance (for that never can be right, when directed to- 
wards those who are sincerely convinced of the truth of what 
they believe), but' 1 * with severity against those who have 
fallen into this state of religious feeling ? Since persons 
acknowledged to be devotedly religious are exclusive, is 
there not evidence for concluding either that such ex- 
clusiveness is actually a right thing in itself, or else that, 
if it be a wrong thing, still it is such a thing as can so 
transform itself into the semblance of a right thing, as 
to be taken for such by good men ? And, even suppos- 
ing the latter alternative to be true, ought not respect- 
ful argument, rather than mere denunciation, to be the 
way in which the evil should be met ? 

Let us not begin then merely by denouncing exclu- 
siveness, as many who are pious, and not otherwise blame- 
worthy, often do. Let us inquire calmly and in a Chris- 
tian spirit, whether this exclusive temper, which is apt 
to gain possession of many religious persons, and even 
to increase as they increase in religious devotedness, be 
actually a right thing as they think, or only the sem- 
blance of it, — whether it be really an element in the spirit 
of holiness as they judge, or, on the contrary, only a 
shadow cast in the soul by a religious light, which is ad- 
mitted only in one direction, and too much in the form 
of seclusive devotional feeling. Certain it is, that under 
partial lights, shadows must form. Nay, the more in- 
tense the light in such a case, just so much darker must 
be the shadow also. The fact, therefore, that very ex- 



THE OCCASION. 



7 



elusive views and feelings are often found associated with 
very devotional feelings, nay, the consciousness in my own 
experience, that while I am becoming more devout, I am 
also growing more exclusive, is no sufficient evidence 
either from without or from within, that exclusiveness 
is a right thing. On the contrary, it may be nothing 
better after all than self rising in the shadow, which a 
beam of religious light has cast in my soul, and mistaking 
its own native feelings of pride or of self-righteousness, 
for the spirit of holiness, because there is a religious halo 
around them. 

But of this hereafter. Meantime, let us remark, that 
whatever the true character of this exclusiveness, it de- 
fines in a very marked manner the conduct of those who 
are under its influence. Instead of breathing a truly ca- 
tholic spirit (which is it not one of the best evidences of 
the supremacy of true religion in the soul ?), they feel as 
if called upon by conscience, and the spirit of holiness, to 
stand aloof from other Christians, and to limit the out- 
goings of their charities, and all Christian co-operation, 
to the circle of their own communion. That alone they 
regard as trust-worthy, and on every scheme, however 
Christian in its aspect or profession, they look with sus- 
picion, or positively denounce, if it but originate in 
another. They have a good conscience in resisting, and 
they plead " principle" for it. But in standing out 
upon a lesser principle, do we not often compromise a 
greater? This needs to be considered. And though 
they pray and haply sigh for the day when all religious 
differences shall merge in the unity of the church, and 
when all who bear the name of Christ shall freely open 
their hearts to one another ; yet unhappily they remove 
that day so far into the future, as to deem it not to be 
thought of now ; and meantime entertain such isolating 
and unsocial feelings in religion, and such stringent views 



8 



THE OCCASION. 



of the constitution of the visible Church, that one would 
think, were he to form his opinion of Christianity from 
their views of it, that its watchword was " exclude," 
and the first line of the Church's rubric, " make fast the 
doors." Thus, — conscientiously no doubt, but just so 
much the more effectively, — do thousands of devotedly re- 
ligious persons spend their lives and energies chiefly in 
repelling others from Christ, and resisting every scheme, 
whether of Christian philanthropy, or of Christian com- 
munion, which proposes to be in any degree catholic. 

It is not when we look to the Church of Rome merely 
(alas ! nothing can be expected from her in this respect), 
but, whether we look to the Church of England or of 
Scotland, or to any of the dissenting bodies, — whether 
we mark the Episcopalian, the Presbyterian, or the In- 
dependent, we equally discover the prevalence of this 
way of feeling among many of the most devoted of their 
respective memberships. Not but almost all are the ad- 
vocates, in words at least, of a catholic spirit ; not but 
almost all sincerely desire, and many in each society ear- 
nestly pray for, the unity of he church, and a catholic 
communion, in spirit at least. But still the views of 
almost all are such, that almost all refrain from making 
any actual movement that way ; nay, even resist such a 
movement when it is made by others. Certain prepos- 
sessions, so deeply seated in the breast that they conceal 
themselves in the very chambers of conscience, and are 
thus mistaken in their outgoings for the dictates of that 
judge (to whom every one feels that a rightful suprema- 
cy belongs), so impede the movements of evangelical 
truth in their breasts, that though they be moved by re- 
ligious feelings, yet, like the movements of a watch 
whose balance-wheel has been magnetized, their hearts 
do not beat freely with a widely embracing sweep, but 
only turn and return, in short and hurried vibrations. 



THE OCCASION. 



9 



round the congenial point of their own connection or 
church theory. 

Meantime the dishonour that is put on the Redeemer, 
and the miseries which are falling upon the world and 
our countrymen, through want of a catholic spirit, and 
the Christian co-operation and unity which belong to it, 
are truly fearful. Thus, at a distance, how feebly is the 
grand duty of teaching the Gospel to every creature, our 
Saviour's last command, carried on, compared with what 
it ought to be, compared with what it might be, were all 
Christians but united in the blessed work ! And yet, the 
little that is done, how painful to contemplate it ! The Gos- 
pel, — thereligion of the God of love> — the religion that was 
heralded by an angelic voice of Peace on earth, and good 
will towards men, — the religion which bears the name of 
Him who, on the last night of his agonies, prayed and pray- 
ed again* for his followers, that they all might be one, that 
the world might believe that the God of love had sent Him ; 
the Gospel spread abroad in the form of rival sects, how 
painful the thought ! No doubt, those who have devoted 
themselves to the missionary enterprise, when they find 
themselves out in the world, and in active conflict with 
Satan, as their calling requires them to be, are generally 
drawn nearer to God than they were when at home ; and 
hence such new enlargement of heart, that when they 
meet each other, it is with warm feelings of brotherhood 
which they never knew before. Truly refreshing it is to 
see how fully it is in the hearts of missionaries to love 
each other unfeignedly ; and to forget, as if left behind 
in the land they have left, the sectarian distinctions in 
which they were bred. Still, too often, each is required 
by the sect which sends him, to maintain its denomina- 
i tion ; and were Asia to be impressed now with such re- 
ligion as we are sending her, what have we to expect, 
* John xvii. 11 and 21. 



10 



THE OCCASION. 



but that, after a few generations, just as in America at 
the present moment in consequence of the sectarianism 
of the original settlers, the various rival denominations 
now planted in the East would develope themselves into 
as many rival sects as exist already in the West, by 
whose polemics the infant church would be torn to pieces, 
and the fruits of the Spirit be nipt in the bud. Let not 
these remarks, however, be viewed as an argument 
against missions, but solely as a motive to union among 
the friends of missions. The missionary cause is the 
noblest enterprise of the times, and no consideration 
ought to be allowed to impede it. But ought not the 
painful prospect just given to urge its friends to co-ope- 
ration and Christian unity ? 

But to see the evils of our present contentions and our 
present divided state, we need not look so far away. 
We need only look around us. For everywhere is in- 
fidelity lifting its cheerless head, invested with fearful 
moral energy by the fact, that though, in precept, ours be 
a religion of humble-mindedness and mutual forbearance, 
yet in practice, nowhere in the wide world — not between 
any classes of worldly men — are stronger antipathies, and 
more unsparing judgments pronounced, than those which 
reciprocate between religious men if they but happen to 
belong to different religious parties or societies. And this 
in the churches of the Reformation too ! 

And while, through these discords in the bosom of these 
churches — churches which claim to have emancipated 
themselves from the ignorance and errors into which the 
Church, along with every other social institution, had 
fallen during the darkness and barbarism of the middle 
ages, and to have availed themselves of all the lights which 
have arisen in Europe since the revival of learning — in- * 
fidelity is invested with such powers to speak against re- 
ligion as a whole, the priesthood of the Church of Rome 



THE OCCASION. 



11 



is, from the same cause, enabled to speak with peculiar 
emphasis against the Reformation. And, in truth, though 
it be easy to shew that there have been as many differen- 
ces among the learned of the Romish communion, as there 
ever have been among Protestants, and, indeed, that the 
unity of the Church of Rome (viewed in reference to the 
many at least) is an agreement in externals merely (one 
might almost say in ignorance merely), still, so long as 
the Romish priesthood are able to maintain any semblance 
of a general agreement at all, and to hold up our dissen- 
tions in contrast with their unity, they will not speak in 
vain. For even to a person who knows no more of 
Christianity than the general idea implied in the term 
Christian, as that term is used by the world, (and who, 
consequently, knows that a Christian's characteristics 
ought to be meekness, forbearance, love) — to the merest 
observer, almost anything that will bear the name of 
unity seems better and more Christian than discord and 
contention. And therefore every dispute between mi- 
nisters of the Gospel gives advantage to the Romish 
priest, every schism among Protestants gives new strength 
to popery. 

Nor is this the only point of view in which our conten- 
tions are ruining our churches. So mighty to accomplish 
any object which it proposes is a great secret society, espe- 
cially when so completely centralized as the church of 
Rome, compared with that of loosely constituted so- 
cieties, such as the evangelical churches, that nothing, I 
believe, but the sovereign power of evangelical love 
among the reformed, uniting them in the bonds of bro- 
therly affection, and witnessing to the world that we 
are true Christians, will ever enable us to maintain our 
ground against a priesthood, who, though consisting of 
many thousands, are yet so united, that, as if they were 
but one man, they all whisper simultaneously into the 



12 



THE OCCASION. 



ears of the listening millions the same views and senti- 
ments. Yes ! if we will not learn to love one another as 
our Saviour gave us commandment, the Reformation may 
be quenched still. Popery may be over all again. Is it 
not on the way ? 

This is bad enough : but yet it is not the worst. For 
in the church of Rome, salvation is possible. Though 
the eye of the worshipper rest on the crucifix, and his 
faith on the mass", and he be taught to believe that all is 
well when all is arranged with the priest, still the re- 
deemed soul, under the discipline of the Holy Spirit, can 
substitute the true cross for the crucifix, and the Saviour 
and his sacrifice (offered once for all*) for the priest 
and the host. The path to which the church of Rome 
tries to confine the worshipper, tortuous though it be, 
does not so bewilder the true Catholic, but he finds his 
way to the New Jerusalem notwithstanding. And lamen- 
table though it be to contribute to a revival, in the nine- 
teenth century, of such grievous errors and spiritual 
despotism, — so much of the middle ages in short, — as the 
unreformed church still carries in her bosom, yet our dif- 
ferences in religion are causing greater evils still. Of 
popery, the fruits are indeed bitter ; but of impiety, the 
fruit is only ashes. And why, in every large town 
throughout our land, is the tide of popular impiety and 
ignorance of sacred things rising so fast, and flowing on 
in so full a stream, altogether unstemmed, and only di- 
verted here and there into a few eddies, where a spirit of 
holy enterprise happens to circulate at the time 1 And 
why, in our rural districts everywhere, are our peasantry 
falling so fast away from the piety of their forefathers, 
and adding a deeper ignorance to the lately-acquired 
wickedness which has crept among them from the town's 
people ? And why is many a naturally amiable heart so 
* Heb. x. 12. 



THE OCCASION, 



13 



benighted and estranged from the love of God, that even 
a desolating atheism, under the engaging name of Social- 
ism, is gaining many such for proselytes ? And why are 
many statesmen and others, to whom the name of phi- 
lanthropists cannot be denied, not ashamed to contend 
that, in the organizing of universities, schools, mechanics' 
institutions, and the like, religion should be excluded ? 
How could such a dreadful idea as the excluding from 
education the knowledge of the God who made us, and 
of the laws and of the alone salvation he has given us, 
be entertained, even for a moment, by a mind possessing 
any right power of judging at all ? And why is the 
moral influence of the church and the clergy sunk so low, 
that the very idea of spiritual authority is treated as ridi- 
culous ; and almost every hearer now is in the attitude of 
a judge, and not of a doer ? Why all these evils ? Oh ! it is 
all because of schism, — all because the once glorious tide 
of the religious energy of England is now become stag- 
nant with disputes, is now spent in the self-destroying 
form of mere antagonism and reciprocal denunciation. 

And how do the clergy feel in the midst of all this \ 
The clergy alas ! — But on this subject, let one who does 
not belong to the order declare the truth. " Surely" 
(says the author of the Natural History of Enthusiasm) 
" those must have a faint sense of their responsibility, who 
can think themselves free to indulge their resentments, 
and entertain their prejudices, and to adhere to their 
bigotry, at the peril of the salvation of mankind. Yet 
it is the factions, the jealousy, the animosities of the mi- 
nisters of Christianity, that, at the present moment, is 
sealing the perdition of the world. It is this that is con- 
demning the millions of our British population to igno- 
rance and atheism ; it is this that is snatching from us 
the lately entertained hope of the conversion of Moham- 
medans and Pagans ; it is this that is scattering the sighs 



14 



THE OCCASION. 



and prayers of the church for the prevalence of truth 
and goodness ; it is this — it is the disgraceful, the ground- 
less, and the obstinate discords of the ministers of reli- 
gion — that now baffles the benevolence of heaven, and 
throws the wretched human family forward upon another 
cycle of Satanic illusion. The methods of the Divine 
government, inscrutable as they are for the most part, 
yet make themselves legible, very often, in the retribu- 
tions they involve : so it may prove in the present in- 
stance. Every sort of motive and incidental advantage 
has, during the current period, combined to invite a re- 
consideration and abandonment of our hereditary reli- 
gious divisions : this has been the Lord's special call to 
his ministers of the present age. But it has not been 
listened to ; it has been heard and contemned. Yet the 
guilty will go in peace to their graves, and the public 
punishment be reserved to descend with ruin upon the 
heads of their less culpable successors. Let it be believed 
that in the actual tendency of opinions throughout Eu- 
rope, the clerical institute and order is altogether in jeo- 
pardy. Weakened a little more, and disgraced a little 
more by internal discords, and it may be trampled under 
foot by its adversaries The part of the ju- 
nior members of the clerical order (of all communions) is 
to convince themselves of the error of their fathers in 
this behalf, and to resolve, that, so soon as they come 
upon the stage of public life, they will remove the un- 
warrantable and pernicious discords that have so long 
stayed the course of Christianity, and brought its minis- 
ters into contempt. Union, if once cordially intended 
and promoted, would not be obstructed by any serious 
obstacles ; the difficulties that stand in the way would 
appear to be what they are, trivial pretexts only, or mis- 
understandings, which good sense and charity would pre- 
sently surmount. So far as the present pleas of faction 



THE OCCASION. 



15 



are of a political kind, they must at once be condemned 
as impiously criminal ; so far as they relate to diver- 
sities of usage or opinion in worship and government, a 
better understood principle of church polity and commu- 
nion, together with that sentiment of love and forbear- 
ance which the Gospel supplies and demands, would se- 
cure to every man his personal persuasion, without al- 
lowing him to break company with his brethren ; and so 
far as our parties take their origin from theological dis- 
agreements, a pious and diligent prosecution of biblical 
interpretation, such as is at present in progress — biblical 
interpretation opposed to the dialectic and the metaphysic 
method of compacting systems, would soon bring into 
substantial accordance all sincere men. In one word, a 
restored manliness of feeling among religious folks, — a 
renovated good sense, — and^ above all, an invigorated 
piety and profound conviction of the truth of the religion 
we profess, would dispel as in an instant the shame and 
folly of our factions."* The author goes on to say, that 
the above-named heavy disparagements under which the 
influence of the ministers of religion is at present labour- 
ing, attach in common and nearly in equal degrees to the 
clergy of all parties. It may be thought that the lan- 
guage he uses is very strong, yet we have only to look 
around, in order to see that no language can be too strong. 
The present aspect of the Church in respect of catholi- 
city of spirit and of unity is truly distressing. In the 
Word of God the Church is typified by a holy mountain, 
where the wolf dwells with the lamb, and the leopard 
lies down with the kid, and the calf and the young lion, 
and the fatling together, and a little child leads them ; 
and there is nothing over all to hurt or to destroy.-|- But 
for a type of the distracted Church, as we see it around 
us, we must close the blessed page of Isaiah, and turn to 
* Spiritual Despotism, p. 386. t Isaiah xi. 



16 



THE APOLOGY. 



some darker page of Scripture, — to some such scene as 
that recorded in the fifteenth chapter of the book of Judges 
for instance, where we have an account of Samson's foxes 
howling through the corn-fields, the vineyards, and the 
olive banks, tied tail to tail, with firebrands between. 
Such is the complete inversion of all that ought to be, 
when the disciples of Christ, instead of " keeping them- 
selves secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues,"* 
are — unlike their Master — everywhere striving, and cry- 
ing, and making their voices to be heard in the streets.f 



THE APOLOGY. 



Such is the unhappy state of things under which the 
churches of Christ and our country are labouring, and 
in the painfulness and responsibility of which we are all 
more or less involved. And, in these circumstances, 
ought not every one who loves the Lord Jesus Christ — 
every friend of religion, of his country, of humanity, 
deeply to deplore such a state of things, and do what in 
him lies to bring about one that shall be more holy and 
healthful ? This must be granted. But why, it may be 
asked, write another book upon the subject, why attempt 
anew what has been so often attempted already, and all in 
vain ? Have not exclusive zealots (it may be said) been 
often, often, addressed already by every conceivable ar- 
gument in favour of a catholic spirit and Christian unity? 
Have not writers of the most devoted piety given utter- 
ance in every touching form to the distress they have 
felt on beholding a spirit of such intolerance in their 
Christian brethren ? Have they not endeavoured to shew 
that such a spirit is not the spirit of the Gospel, but, on 
the contrary, the old spirit of self-righteous pride, which 
* Psalms xxxi. 20. f Matt. xii. 19. 



THE APOLOGY. 



17 



used to shew itself under Judaism and heathenism, as 
well as under the Christian name — the old spirit, in short 
which has made pharisees in all ages and countries ? Has 
it not been proved, that a conscientious adherence to one's 
own particular communion, does not require a commination 
of all who differ from us ? Has it not been shewn that all 
evangelical Christians might fraternise, so as at once to 
honour the dictates of conscience and the demands of the 
spirit of love, which is the Spirit of Christ ? Has not all 
this, it may be said, been attempted again and again, and 
has it not utterly failed to produce the effect intended ? 
Nay, have not those who have made the attempt, only 
brought upon themselves a suspicion as to their love of 
the truth and of holiness, and earned for themselves the 
reproach of latitudinarianism. True. But previous failure 
is no sufficient argument against ultimate success. There 
is a time for all things. The nineteenth century may ac- 
complish what the seventeenth attempted in vain. Time 
teaches better than words. Time teaches still by that 
method so much admired in the ancient geometers — the 
method of exhaustion. Time tries all ways of it, and 
holds up the results to the coming generations ; and thus 
at last the true way is seen, and the many at last fall in 
with the few who were right in their day. But because 
the many do so at last, nothing that is right is ever to be 
despaired of. And if the treatises and testimonies in fa- 
vour of a catholic spirit in religion, which a former age 
produced, were now culled from the ponderous volumes 
of that epoch, and presented to the Christian public in a 
separate work of a size suited to our times, effects might- 
result of which no traces appeared when they were first 
published. A book, however full of truth, falls dead from 
the press when it does not speak to the times in which it 
appears. But " a word fitly spoken, is like apples of gold 



18 



THE APOLOGY. 



in pictures of silver." * And let the course of Provi- 
dence, or the more immediate influences of the Spirit, 
bring any state of feeling on any given subject to the 
hearts of the many, and then a book which addresses that 
feeling, and by cogent illustration and argument builds 
it up into a reasonable and defensible conviction, will not 
be published in vain. Now, it is the belief of the author, 
that the day is near at hand when thousands who are 
possibly quite close this moment, will be convinced that 
their hearts must be opened to a catholic spirit, before 
they can enjoy the peace of God in its fulness, or see the 
pleasure of the Lord prospering in their hands. And 
this has induced him to compose the following pages. 
They are not indeed of the nature of a compilation, 
such as he has alluded to. They are the thoughts of an 
individual mind. Nevertheless, they consist of views and 
arguments which have affected the author, and which, 
trusting in the blessing of God, he hopes will affect the 
minds of some of his readers likewise. But the event 
will prove. Meantime the author feels it to be a great 
encouragement, that since he began to arrange his ideas 
on this subject, several treatises have appeared in the 
English language, all having more or less the same ob- 
ject in view with that in the reader's hand. If it be 
asked why, when the field has thus been so well filled up 
already, he continued his labours, and now adds another 
volume to the previously great number referred to, he 
answers, that the line of argument he has adopted, and 
even the leading ideas of this work, are still to be found in 
the following pages alone. And if they were ever good for 
any thing, they are not diminished in value by the recent 
publication of the respectable treatises he has referred 
to. On the contrary, the way is rather paved by them, 
for the argument which follows. In proceeding with 
* Prov. xxv. 11. 



THE MANNER. 



19 



his publication, the author has also this encouragement, 
that if the truth of his views be but granted, they admit 
of being immediately realized, demanding no great and 
impracticable revolutions, no punctilious and effectless 
conferences, nothing more in short, but the opening of 
the hearts of the redeemed to one another. Let but this 
be done, and all besides that is desirable will follow in 
its own time. Along with party feelings denominational 
distinctions will die away. One member of the body of 
Christ will not say of another, " I have no need of you." 
And believers all through the Churches, loving each other, 
and seeking mutual communion, will unite without an 
effort, so as to form, along with those who are set over 
them in the Lord, one great visible church. All parti- 
cular visible churches will unite into one visible church, 
as the invisible and catholic church is united into one 
already. The visible will come to resemble the invisi- 
ble. The earthly will come to possess the image of the 
heavenly. The bride will be adorned for the bride- 
groom. 



THE MANNER. 



It may perhaps be thought by some readers, from the 
manner of the following work, that the author is of no 
particular communion, no particular opinions himself, 
and that thus it was easy for him to write in favour of a 
catholic spirit. But this is a mistake. Besides his faith 
in the indisputable essentials of Christianity, which are 
everywhere inwoven in the following pages, he has his 
own opinions and convictions on those disputable points 
about which chiefly dissensions arise. But in composing 
such a work as this, in which his endeavour has been " to 
sow in peace," and " to follow the things which make for 
peace," he has deemed it right to have his convictions on 



20 



THE MANNER. 



these disputable points " to himself before God." # And 
as an illustration of the manner in which he has endea- 
voured to write, he begs the reader's attention to the 
following paragraph, especially since it contains also the 
statement of a mighty principle of Catholicism. It is 
from the work of one of the lights of a former age, still 
high in the esteem of the Church of England. " There 
is no part of this work (says Bishop Burnet) in which I 
have laboured with more care, and have writ in a more 
uncommon method, than concerning predestination ; for, 
as my small reading had carried me farther in that con- 
troversy than in any other whatsoever, both with rela- 
tion to ancients and moderns, and to the most esteemed 
books in all the different parties, so I weighed the article 
with that impartial care that I thought became me, and 
have taken a method which is, for ought I know, new, of 
stating the arguments on all sides with so much fairness, 
that those who know my own opinion on this point have 
owned to me, that they could not discover it by anything 
that I had written. They were inclined to think that I 
was of another opinion than they took me to be when 
they read my arguments on that side. I have not, in the 
explanation of that article, told what my own opinion 
was. Yet here I think it may be fitting to own, that I 
follow the doctrine of the Greek Church, from which St 
Austin departed, and formed a new system. After this 
declaration I may now appeal, both to St Austin's dis- 
ciples and to the Calvinists, whether I have not stated 
their opinions and arguments, not only with truth and 
candour, but with all possible advantages. One reason 
among others which led me to follow the method I have 
pursued in this controversy, is to offer at the best means 
I can for bringing men to a better understanding of one 

* Rom. xiv. 22.— Hast thou faith ? Have it to thyself before God. 



THE IDEA. 



21 



another, and to a mutual forbearance in these matters. 
This is at present the chief point of difference between 
the Lutherans and the Calvinists. Expedients for bring- 
ing men to an union on these heads, are projects that can 
never have any good effect. Men whose opinions are 
so different can never be brought to an agreement ; and 
the settling of some equivocal formularies will never lay 
the contention that has arisen concerning them. The 
only possible way of a sound and lasting reconciliation is 
to possess both parties with a sense of the force of the argu- 
ments that lie on the other side, that they may see they 
are no way contemptible, but are such as may prevail on 
wise and good men. Here is a foundation laid for charity. 
And if to this men would add a just sense of the difficul- 
ties in their own side, and consider that the ill conse- 
quences drawn from opinions are not to be charged on all 
that hold them, unless they do likewise own these conse- 
quences, then it would be more easy to agree on some 
general propositions, by which those ill consequences 
might be condemned, and the doctrine in general settled, 
leaving it free to the men of the different systems to ad- 
here to their own opinions, but withal obliging them to 
judge charitably and favourably of others, and to main- 
tain communion with them notwithstanding that diver- 
sity."* 

THE IDEA. 

Such is the spirit in which the author has endeavoured 
to compose the treatise now in the reader's hand ; and 
the following may be taken as a notion of the principal 
ideas which he has endeavoured to develope in it. 

The Word of God, and the economy of creation, equally 
and emphatically commend the mutual love of all the 
* Burnet on the XXXIX. Articles, Preface. 



22 



THE IDEA. 



children of God, and the true unity of the church. And 
here let us remark, once for all, that by the term Church 
we mean the same as is meant by the Greek term JxxXqaa, 
of which there are principally two significations in the 
word of God. First and generally the whole body of the 
redeemed, that glorious company " which Christ loves as 
his spouse, and for which he gave himself,''* — " which he 
has built upon a rock, and against which the gates of hell 
shall never prevail,"-)- — " which is the general assembly 
of the first-born which are written in heaven,"* — " the 
whole family in heaven and earth," § — " the edifice built 
upon the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself 
being the chief corner-stone. || " And, in the second place, 
and in a more limited sense, " a particular congregation 
of faithful men," in which application it is used by the 
apostles when they speak of " the churches of Christ," 
— " the churches of the Gentiles,"** — " the church of God 
which is at Corinth," -f-f- — " the church of the Thessalo- 
nians,"Ji — " the church that was in the house of Priscilla 
and Aquila."§§ 

Now, according to either sense of the term, every one 
assents to the propriety, the moral beauty, the Chris- 
tianity of catholicity of spirit, and the desirableness of 
Christian unity over all. But yet it so falls out, that no 
good comes of this general assent, this generally expressed 
desire ; for almost every one adds, that whilst the pre- 
sent variety of denominations continues to exist among 
Christians, harmony cannot reign, and that, until some 
great revolution take place, we need not look for a true 
catholicity among Christians, nor a true unity in that 
society which is composed of them. 

* Eph. v. 25. t Matt. xvi. 18. $ Heb. xii. 23. 

§ Eph. iii. 15. || Eph. ii. 20. t Rom. xvi. 16. 

** Rom. xvi. 4. ft 1 Cor. i. 2. $t 1 Thess. i. 1. 
§§ Rom. xvi. 5. 



THE IDEA. 



23 



Such is the prevalent feeling on this subject, and pos- 
sibly every reader may be more or less under the influ- 
ence of it. But how far ought we to suffer ourselves to 
remain under , that influence ? Ought we really to be 
guided by it, so as to refrain from all efforts in favour of 
a catholic spirit and Christian unity, and either continue 
wholly inactive in this respect, or wrap ourselves up in 
exclusive regard for our own communion, or join in the 
general discord ? While our blessed Saviour prayed and 
prayed again, the last night he ministered on this earth, 
that all his people might be one — while he says, u By this 
shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye have 
love one towards another" — while the Word of God assures 
us " that all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this, 
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," are we to make 
no effort towards unity ? are we to entertain no mu- 
tual love, but such as mere circumstances and accidental 
affections may naturally give birth to ? Since it is a 
fact, that persons in general continue to be of the same 
sect or denomination with their parents, and that they 
generally believe in its excellence exclusively, just as 
their parents did, are we to suppose that the truth as to 
this matter comes only by inheritance, especially when it 
is to our individual regeneration that we look for reli- 
gious light in all other things ? Are we to continue thus 
hereditarily to bite and devour one another, taking no 
heed that we are consumed of one another ? Why de- 
spair of a true and wide-spreading harmony among all 
Christians, a true and spiritual, though not perhaps a 
nominal and systematic, unity over all the churches, if not 
in our day, yet so soon at least, that it is already time 
to begin to attune the strings which are to give it utter- 
ance ? Doubtless we ought to do something. 

What, then, is it that we ought to do ? What is our 
duty as Christians in the present circumstances in which 



24 



THE IDEA. 



it has pleased God to call us into being, and to place us 
for probation ? That there is a great variety among 
Christians cannot be disputed ; and truly it is deeply to 
be deplored, that the redeemed should be distinguished 
by any other name than that of their Redeemer. It is a 
fact, however, that they are so distinguished. Denomi- 
national distinctions exist. They must, therefore, be 
considered ; and since they cannot be immediately done 
away, this state of things must be recognised as a pre- 
sent fact, and taken into account when we are endea- 
vouring to discover our present duty. But is there not 
also a true and a spiritual unity among all who truly be- 
lieve the gospel, and who are consequently all truly united 
to Christ the head of all ? And ought we to conclude at 
once, that the variety which is, must necessarily prevent 
the harmony which ought to be ? In that science, from 
which the term harmony itself is borrowed, on the con- 
trary, it is well known, that, in order to true harmony, 
there even must be variety as well as unity — variety to 
prevent monotony, as well as unity to prevent discord. 
May we not suppose then, at least until we have enquired 
somewhat into the matter, that the variety which now 
exists in the church, instead of unavoidably preventing, 
might even be made to contribute to a grand and wide- 
spreading concert among all denominations — a blissful 
harmony, — leading, in the shortest time, and by the right 
way, to all the order and outward unity and symmetry 
of constitution, which it may be the design of God ulti- 
mately to establish among believers. 

The Church of Rome has another idea. Uniformity 
over all is its watchword and its boast ; and in the at- 
tempt to force uniformity over all, it counts no costs too 
dear, no sacrifices too great. Nor has this idea been con- 
fined to the Church of Rome. The churches of the Re- 
formation have here, as in many other things, only re- 



THE IDEA. 



25 



peated what was prevalent in the church out of which 
they sprung ; and each, with fewer pretensions than the 
parent (for none but the Church of Rome pretends to in- 
fallibility), has too often maintained its own model as 
that with which all others must be uniform before they 
be right, or even entitled to the name of church. But 
from this view nothing better has resulted from first to 
last but persecution where it was possible, and schism 
where it was not ; for no one church has as yet so com- 
mended itself all along, either on its own authority or 
excellence, or on Scripture grounds, as to prevent a con- 
scientious conviction from arising, and that in men who feel 
as if God-sustained, and who can carry out their convictions 
into action, that reformation was needed. But nothing 
is less likely to be granted than reformation when the 
demand for it arises only from the few ; for the very de- 
mand implies an accusation of the many, and is taken 
amiss at the very outset ; and thus reformation being re- 
fused, and conviction of its necessity still urging on the 
few, a variation shoots out ; a new church is formed. 
And when such men as St Hilary and Luther take the 
lead in these movements, whether it be against Arianism 
in a pope, as with the Bishop of Poitiers in the fourth cen- 
tury, or with corruption over all, as with the German re- 
former in the sixteenth, and while Christ declares that 
whoso is of the truth heareth his voice, who will say that 
such witnesses should not lift up their voice whatever the 
consequences ? But, without canvassing this question, it 
is a fact that variations exist. It is also a fact, not dis- 
puted, that the love of Christ reigns in the hearts of the 
pious in one evangelical communion as well as in another. 
It is also a fact, that all the evangelical communions 
alluded to are wholly at one in their faith, when the Bible 
is taken as the record and confession of that faith. Dif- 
ferences begin to shew themselves only when opinions 

L, C 



26 



THE IDEA. 



begin to shew themselves ; nor do these differences ex- 
tend to things essential to salvation or godliness. But. 
granting all the extent to which it may be maintained that 
variations exist, is there not still a unity in all in spirit ! 
And, were the evangelical churches only fitly framed toge- 
ther in mutual esteem and affection, would not the inner 
and spiritual unity which they would display in their va- 
riety of outward forms be a constitution of the universal 
church, whence a glorious harmony might ascend, well- 
pleasing to God, and which, by the most rapid move- 
ments possible, might be expected to merge, when the 
appointed time comes, into perfect unison over all ? 

But may we entertain such a view in harmony with 
God's Word ? What says that Word on the subject ? 
What does it lead us to expect as to the form and consti- 
tution of the expanding church? This is the grand in- 
quiry ; for the authority of the Word of God is always 
paramount. Now, without entering here on what will fall 
to be inquired into hereafter, we may merely remark, 
that the expected form of the church, in so far as that is 
revealed in Scripture, may be learned most briefly by ob- 
serving the form of the objects to which Scripture likens 
it ; for it is admitted on all hands, that there are no direct 
and explicit declarations on this subject, other than such 
as are very general and spiritual. Now, in the Word of 
God the church is figured by the cherubim, which, while 
it was " full of wisdom and perfect in beauty," was com- 
posed of three varied forms, the heads of three living 
creatures, various, yet not separated, but, on the contrary, 
all united into one of another form. It is elsewhere 
likened to a body with one head, yet consisting of many va- 
ried members,* — to a temple with one chief corner-stone, 
but built of a great variety of stones, f — to a city which 
is one, and surrounded by one wall, but which contains 
* 1 Cor. xii. 27. t Eph. ii. 21. 



THE IDEA. 



27 



many bulwarks, palaces, and towers,* — to a great sheet 
let down from heaven, in which were all kinds and forms 
of living creatures, from creeping to flying, not separated 
by many partitions, however, but knit only at the four 
corners,-)* — in a word, to Noah's ark, which, notwith- 
standing that admirable unity which kept it together 
while it went to and fro on the waters, was yet, in point 
of variety, an epitome of the whole creation. And of the 
same general character are the other objects by which 
the church is figured and represented in revelation. In 
short, with respect to the form of the church, every ob- 
ject adduced in the Word of God to illustrate it, pictures 
to us not an absolute uniformity over all, as fancy is ever 
apt to desire, as deeming it most beautiful and holy, and 
to view as alone compatible with true unity, but rather 
an unity of spirit in variety of form. 

Nor are Scripture illustrations all that tend to this con- 
clusion. The spiritual agency by which the life of the 
church is sustained and its form developed, is also every- 
where described in the divine records as a power whose 
characteristic, in like manner, is not uniformity, but unity 
in variety. The unity of the Spirit, in the variety of his 
gifts and operations, is indeed one of the leading features 
of the gospel dispensation. " There are diversities of 
gifts (says the Apostle), but the same Spirit ; and there 
are differences of administrations, but the same God, who 
worketh all things in all. As the body is one, and hath 
many members, and all the members of that one body, 
being many, are one body, so also is Christ. If the whole 
body were an eye, where were the hearing ? if the whole 
were hearing, where were the smelling ? And now are 
there many members, but yet one body. And the eye 
cannot say to the hand, I have no need of thee ; nor again, 
the head to the feet, I have no need of you."J 

* Ps. xlviii. f Acts xi. 6. % 1 Cor. xii. 12 — 2L 



28 



THE IDEA. 



Thus it appears, from all these analogies, that not a 
universal uniformity over all, but rather an unity in va- 
riety, an unity of spirit and co-operation in variety of 
form and manner, is all that scripture, treating of the 
church at large, leads us to expect during the growth of 
the kingdom of grace. It is also that which the analogy 
of the kingdom of nature points to ; for it is that which 
that kingdom everywhere displays while in movement. 
It is therefore that which God indicates as creator, not 
less than as author of revelation ; and we ought not to 
forget, that all creation is expressive of the ways of God, 
and full of doctrine. Of the heavenly bodies, the voice 
at the creation said, Let them be for signs as well as for 
seasons ; and it is equally true of the works of God in 
general, that they too are significant and symbolic of the 
ways and will of God, as well as merely useful to man, 
Now all creation, so long as it is in movement, and under- 
going development, constantly developes and displays va- 
riety, as well as unity. The course of providence also 
manifests the same principle on every hand. The view 
here suggested is therefore as well supported by direct 
reasoning, as by the immediate testimony of Scripture. 

No doubt, the formula of unity of spirit in variety of 
form, when exemplified in its utmost beauty, leads to the 
idea of an economy, in which there shall not only be one 
central object (as there ever must be in every form of 
the church of Christ), but an orderly arrangement of 
spiritual ranks, regularly descending and expanding from 
the centre to the circumference, from the apex to the 
base, from the one to the many, from the head to the 
members, and thus uniting them in an orderly and radiant 
whole. But such a state of things is plainly compatible 
only with a certain other state of things. It is plainly 
not to be arrived at, nor expected during periods such as 
the present, when Christian civilization, and popular en- 



THE IDEA. 



29 



lightenment in true religion and morality, are as yet only in 
their infancy, and in very various stages of advancement 
in different regions of the earth, and when humanity all 
over the world is changing so very rapidly. In order to the 
establishment of such a radiant economy over all, Christian 
society must be in a state of great repose and full deve- 
lopment, such as there is no example of in the present age. 
in any region of the world. During the present epoch, 
unity of spirit in variety of form, without any such sym- 
metry, appears to be the only attainable form of the great 
principle referred to May not this, then, be that which, 
in the nature of things, and according to the will of God, 
corresponds to the present epoch, and is proper to it ? 
and may we not reasonably hope, that, if all Christians 
would but unite harmoniously in the present day accord- 
ing to this model, then, although, in reference to certain 
churches, there should be no legally drawn bonds of union 
intermediate between Christ and the ministers of indivi- 
dual congregations, but only the unseen bonds of affec- 
tion, still, this unction of mutual esteem and fraternal 
love flowing over all and through all, would, when the 
blessed day came, soon bring it to pass, that the already 
spiritually united church would, without an effort, and 
just by the breath of the Spirit and the light of God ; s 
countenance upon it, spontaneously, as it were, transform 
itself into one great radiant society, of outward sym- 
metry and beauty and order also. 

If we do insist on an absolute uniformity OA^er all as 
of the essence of Christian unity, we place ourselves in 
a strange dilemma, For it has been very ably shewn by 
the Bishop of Meaux in the interest of the Church ol 
Rome, that the great heads of the Reformation, and those 
who acted a leading part in settling the form of the first 
Reformed Churches, differed from each other in many 
points ; and thence, taking for granted, or at least wish- 



30 



THE IDEA. 



ing the reader to take for granted, and himself merely 
stating, in a few sentences in his preface, that uniformity 
is a first principle or criterion of truth ; and, leading the 
reader to believe that the church in whose interest he 
writes has been uniform, both in faith and practice, all 
along, he concludes that all the departures of the Reform- 
ers from the tenets of the Church of Rome are mere he- 
resies, and the whole work of the Reformation a piece of 
confusion. Such is the scheme of Bossuet's work, and it 
is one of the weightiest against the evangelical churches 
which has ever been written. It has also been lately 
published in English, and at a very cheap price, so that 
it is easily accessible to every body. 

Ever since ecclesiastical histories were written, how- 
ever, and more especially since Mr Edgar wrote his book 
in the interest of Protestantism, directly to contrast with 
that of Bossuet, it has been seen that the premises of the 
Romish prelate involve the condemnation of the Church 
of Rome, not less than the churches of the Reformation ; 
since, far from a universal uniformity, as Bossuet wishes 
to be believed, there have been as many variations among 
Romanists as among the Reformed. It has been proved 
on both sides, that variations have existed all along ; and 
if we but assume the principle of uniformity as the test 
of^fene true church, and the only condition of Christian 
unity, then, not the churches of the Reformation only, 
but the church which preceded them also, have had no 
unity, no truth in them. All, in a word, has been but 
confusion. 

Now, though the consequences of admitting such a prin- 
ciple are so grave, it is certain that there is a very general 
prepossession in favour of this same principle of uniformi- 
ty ; and no doubt that prepossession will remain and ope- 
rate hereafter, as well as now, and thus effect uniformity, 
so soon as the present obstructions to it are removed,— 



THE IDEA. 



31 



as soon, perhaps, as it ought to be. But, is this unifor- 
mity a thing of such paramount importance that we must 
insist upon it now, in the face of the impossible ? Grant- 
ing much to it, must we give up all for its sake ? So far 
as I am. aware, this has never yet been duly inquired 
into. The real merits of the principle have not been duly 
canvassed, neither in the light of Scripture nor of philo- 
sophy. To these points, therefore, a considerable portion 
of the following pages are devoted. 

In the discussion of this theme, the author has taken 
occasion to dwell more on the necessity of forbearance and 
love, than many persons will have a toleration for ; and 
it will no doubt be alleged against him by not a few, that 
he is no lover of the Truth, because he does not contend 
with fierceness for one side exclusively, of every disputed 
point. He is ready to suffer, however, rather than be- 
come uncandid. He feels deeply that it is Self, and Self 
only, that is the fountain of those irascible passions, 
which, consecrated, as it were, by religion being made 
their occasion, are so much in vogue at present. He can 
find no place for them in Christianity, and he has not in- 
dulged in them. It is, moreover, certain, that the me- 
thod of denunciatory writing and polemical theology has 
been fairly tried, and that it has completely failed. Age 
after age it has been continued, and new variations and 
new schisms have still increased, and indeed been its 
only fruit. Is not this an intimation, then, by the God 
of providence and grace, that something else besides po- 
lemics is needed, something else than metaphysical dis- 
cussion required, to bring together into one the children 
of God, who are now scattered abroad ? Is it not clearly 
indicated, in short, not less now by the awards of the 
Head of the Church, than by the whole tenor of the Gos- 
pel, that Christians ought not to strive against one ano- 
ther, but, on the contrary, to stand fast in one spirit, with 



32 



THE IDEA, 



one mind, striving together for the faith of the Gospel, 
witnessing to the world that they are Christians, be- 
cause of the love which they have to one another ? 

Not for one moment, indeed, let it be forgotten, that the 
truth as it is in Jesus is the only foundation on which 
any man can build with safety to himself and to the 
church, and that it is both a duty and a privilege to 
defend it, and to contend for it ; and both an act of 
Christian benevolence, and one that has a rich reward, 
to seek the conversion of the soul that is erring from it. 
But why confound between the clearly revealed truth of 
God and our own disputable opinions on disputable points ? 
Why " destroy with thy meat him for whom Christ died ?" 
Oh, let us never forget that 44 the kingdom of heaven 
is not meat and drink, but righteousness, and peace, 
and joy in the Holy Ghost." " He that in these things 
serveth Christ, is (we are assured) acceptable to God, 
and approved of men." " Let us, therefore, follow after 
the things which make for peace, and things wherewith 
one may edify another." * Let but a true Christian af- 
fection prevail between all who love the Lord Jesus, 
harmoniously with the spirit of the apostle, who prays 
that on all such, grace, mercy, and peace may come ; — 
let but the amenities of Christian feeling take the place 
of angry polemics on points, which it has now been fully 
proved must ever continue, till humanity itself receive new 
light, to be disputable, except in the words in which the 
Holy Ghost has invested them, and in which all receive 
them with one accord, — and it would not be long till we 
all came, " in the unity of the faith and of the knowledge 
of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the mea- 
sure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Let us there- 
fore heartily unite in praying for what is characterized 
in the Book of Common Prayer as the good estate of the 
• Rom. xiv. 19. 



THE IDEA. 



33 



catholic church, " that it may be so guided and governed 
by the good Spirit of God, that all who profess and call 
themselves Christians, may be led into the way of truth, 
and hold the faith in unity of spirit, in the bond of peace, 
and righteousness of life." 

Besides the duty of forbearance and love between 
Christians, the author has also frequently insisted on the 
necessity of a greater reverence for the Word of God than 
is commonly paid to it. This he regards as the grand 
means which, along with mutual forbearance and love, 
and a recognition of the principle of the catholic church 
existing both in variety and unity, will prevent new divi- 
sions, and duly effect the obliteration of such as are esta- 
blished, until, in the latter day, there shall be outward 
and visible unity over all, as well as more immediately a 
real and spiritual unity in and through all. 

It has been already stated, that all Christians are al- 
ready at one, when the Bible is taken as the confession 
of their faith. It is only when we call into play the un- 
inspired mind and its interpretations, human thoughts 
and human opinions, things fallible and factitious, and 
when, by them, we replace the words in which the Holy 
Ghost teacheth the truth, that differences and schisms arise. 
Granting, then, with respect to the past, all that is con- 
tended in favour of human authority, let there only, for 
the future, be a greater veneration for the Word of God, 
less rashness of interpretation, less consulting of God's 
word with a view to support our individual opinions, and 
more consulting of it, simply to learn what the Spirit has 
communicated to us, and what the Lord would have us to 
do ; and then we will rest satisfied with the Word as we 
actually find it, and sink our own disputable opinions in 
the same proportion. Our differences will die away, and 
Christian men, who esteem each other as such, will meet 
in the Word, where they know they are agreed, and 



34 



THE TITLE. 



which they all venerate, and all will come to be one 
again, and the Lord alone will be exalted in that day. 

THE TITLE. 

To express the nature of this work as perspicuously as 
possible, I have entitled it " The Catholic Spirit of True 
Religion," refraining, not without regret, from using the 
term Catholicism or catholicity instead of" catholic spirit," 
lest its use might have induced some members of the 
Church of Rome to purchase the work under a false im- 
pression, and so to pay for a disappointment which they 
might have laid to the author's charge. Not but that I 
should be very happy to think of these pages being per- 
used by any members of that communion : But this is 
what dare scarcely be hoped for ; since, of all from whom I 
anticipate objections to the views here advanced, there is 
none from whom I expect so many as the Romanist. Yet 
this has not prevented me from observing an act of defe- 
rence to him, even on the title-page of this work. And 
from respect to him, I have avoided the use of the term 
Catholicism, since the ascendency of the Church of Rome 
in that country of which that word is a native, has brought 
its import from the original and true idea of universality, 
to signify, most generally now, the system or theory of 
the Church of Rome, of which, if this work treats, it can- 
not be said that it approves. 

The English use of the term was indeed once different, 
and ought to be so still. Its rightful use is given in the 
following quotation from an English divine of a former 
age: — "Wherefore, I conclude" (says Dr Pearson) "that 
this Catholicism, or second affection of the church, con- 
sisteth generally in universality, as embracing all sorts 
of persons, as to be disseminated through all nations, as 



THE TITLE, 



35 



comprehending all ages, as containing all necessary and 
saving truths, as obliging all conditions of men to all 
kinds of obedience, as curing all diseases, and planting all 
graces in the souls of men."* Such is the legitimate use 
of the term Catholicism, and in this sense I should like 
to have used it. To prevent the possible mistake which 
has been alluded to, however, this has been avoided. The 
sacrifice made, however, is a matter of no consequence. 

But let it be well remarked, that with regard to the 
term catholic, the members of the Church of Rome have 
no right, nor can be in any way justified in arrogating it 
exclusively to their own communion. Nor are the Re- 
formed Churches wise in giving up the use of that term, 
which, even according to the definition which the Church 
of Rome gives of it, embraces ourselves and all true be- 
lievers, that ever have been, are now, or shall be here- 
after. The term catholic, though not found in the Scrip- 
tures themselves, was early introduced into the church, 
as is proved by its having a place in the creed. It has 
also a charm from its true meaning as well as its anti- 
quity, and is a well sounding word withal. It should not 
be given up. 

Nor do we commit any trespass against the members 
of the Church of Rome in using the term catholic, as 
embracing ourselves. On the contrary, it is they who 
depart from their own standard, in appropriating it ex- 
clusively to their own communion. For, not to adduce 
quotations from St Augustine, and others of the Fathers, 
who have clearly shewn in their writings, that when 
they speak of the Catholic Church, or the church in its 
most general sense, they mean the whole church, in- 
visible, as well as visible, it is enough to remark here, 
that the Council of Trent itself has defined " the Ca- 
tholic Church" so minutely, as to leave no doubt that 
• Pearson on the Creed, Art. ix. 



36 



THE TITLE. 



the meaning which that Council attached to it, is like- 
wise that which has just been affirmed to be that of St 
Augustine, and consequently, that " ail- embracing' 5 (the 
saints in heaven included, as well as those who now are, 
or shall be hereafter on the earth), is the meaning of the 
term " catholic," in the Church of Rome, to this day. 
Thus, in illustrating the ninth article of the Creed, that 
Council, after stating that " the prophets lead us to ex- 
pect that impious men should not be wanting, who, after 
the manner of the ape which simulates the man, should 
maintain that they alone were catholics, and no less 
wickedly than proudly affirm that the Catholic Church 
was with them only" (To whom do these words apply 
most justly in our day I), proceeds to define the term ca- 
tholic, in an excellent paragraph, of which the following 
is a literal translation. " The third property of the 
church (says the Catechism) is, that it is called catholic, 
that is, universal, which name is with truth applied to it. 
since, as says St Augustine, from the rising to the set- 
ting sun, the light of the true faith is spread abroad. 
Neither is it, as in human commonwealths or heretical 
conventicles, circumscribed by the boundaries of one king- 
dom, or of one race of men, but all men. whether barba- 
rians or Scythians, bond or free, male or female, are em- 
braced in its bosom of charity. Wherefore it is written. 
" Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of 
every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and 
hasTmade us a kingdom for our God."* David says con- 
cerning the church, " Ask of me and I will give thee the 
heathen for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth 
for thy possession. v t Likewise, 6 4 1 will make mention 

* Rev. v. 10. This is after the Vulgate, the word " priests" being 
omitted in the Catechism of the Council of Trent, the Greek being 
as in our public version. 

t Psalm ii. 8. 



THE TITLE. 



37 



of Rahab and Babylon among those who know me," and 
" the man was born in her."* Besides, all the faithful 
who have been from Adam to this day, and all who shall 
be as long as the world lasts, professing the true faith, be- 
long to the same church, who are all based and built on 
that same only stone Christ, who has made both one, and 
has proclaimed peace to those who are near and to those 
who are afar off.-f- For this reason also it is called univer- 
sal, because all who desire to obtain eternal salvation, ought 
to hold and embrace it, not otherwise than those who en- 
tered the ark, that they might not perish in the deluge. 
This, therefore, is to be delivered as a most certain rule, 
whereby the true and the false church may be judged." 

Such is a translation of the entire paragraph in the 
catechism of the Council of Trent, on the subject of the 
Catholicism of the church. And from this it plainly ap- 
pears, that, according to the standard of the Church of 
Rome, the catholic church means the universal church, 
the invisible church, the whole body of the redeemed, one 
part militant, one part triumphant, one part future. 

Romanists themselves being judges, therefore, the 
Church of Rome, in the present day, can be no more than 
a part of the catholic church. And is it not difficult to 
find good grounds on which to grant even that to her, 
with any more, or even so much propriety as almost any 
other church ? For, in the first place, she possesses no 
longer now that entire possession of the field of the world, 
on account of which the catechism, by a quotation from 
St Augustine, says, that the term catholic is justly ap- 
plied. The light of the one faith is, indeed, far more 
widely spread now than it was in St Augustine's day ; but 
that is not " the manifold faithf* either as laid down in the 
standard of the Church of Rome, or as kept up by her 
priesthood. On the contrary, the family Bible now, in 
* Psalm lxxxvii. 4, 5. t Eph. ii. 14, 17, 



38 



THE TITLE, 



many a region of the world, intimates to the Romish priest, 
that his reign is over, and that he must either retire before 
the supremacy of the word of God, or else consent to it 
as the charter between him and a Christian people, and 
consequently, cease to be a Romish priest. The Church 
of Rome is now only one communion of many. She is 
no longer universal, and in this view, therefore, she has 
no longer any claims to the exclusive use of the term 
catholic. 

But farther, she is, of all churches, the most exclusive. 
Some of the more enlightened in her communion, have 
indeed attempted of late to deny this, and to represent 
her as very charitable, such, in short, as the catechism 
just quoted from, describes the catholic church to be. 
But when examined into, any authoritative statements 
which have been made on this subject, leave matters just 
where they were long ago, in this respect; except, in- 
deed, that the attempt to make a shew of liberality de- 
monstrates, that individual Romanists, and particular 
branches of the Church of Rome, now wish to be thought 
more charitable, and no doubt feel more liberally, than 
they dare declare with respect to their church as a whole. 
Thus, in a document lately published by the Bishops of 
the Church of Rome in Great Britain, of which the ori- 
ginal is stated by them to be deposited in the British 
Museum, and which has been printed in the form of a 
tract, entitled An Exposition of Faith, &c* the authors, 
when answering the charge of their exclusiveness as to 
Salvation, affirm that their church is exclusive only on 
the same principle on which Christianity itself is exclu- 
sive, quoting as proofs and illustrations of their meaning, 
Mark xvi. 16 ; John iii. 5 ; and Galat, v. 21. Now, to 

* An Exposition of Faith, or Declaration of the Catholic Bishops, 
the Vicars Apostolic and their coadjutors in Great Britain ; a Tract 

of eight pages 8vo. 



THE TITLE. 



39 



all this every Christian must assent ; and so far all is well. 
But immediately after, the Bishops go on to say, with a 
semblance of charity only, as will immediately appear, 
that the catholic is not permitted to pronounce sentence 
of condemnation on individuals, who may live and die 
out by the external communion of the catholic church. 
We say with a semblance of charity only, for in these 
words there is an omission, which, if not designed, is at 
least directly calculated to deceive the reader, and to 
pass him off with an equivoque on the subject of charity, 
instead of a sincere profession of it. The Bishops say 
only that the catholic is not permitted to pronounce sen- 
tence of condemnation, &c. Very true. But what does 
this amount to ? It leaves the practice of the church just 
where it was. The catholic is not much encouraged to 
pronounce sentence on any subject. The church does it 
all. And since the authors of this "Exposition" say no- 
thing as to the church on the subject of their exclusion 
of protestants from all hope of salvation, we are left al- 
together uninformed by this tract, whether the Church 
of Rome be not as exclusive and intolerant still, as she 
used to be. But though we find nothing satisfactory on 
this subject in the tract, it is otherwise, in some works 
published lately abroad, and nearer the fountain-head 
of the Romish church. In the first volume of a course 
of theology, published a few years ago. at the press of the 
Propaganda at Rome, and by one of the professors in 
that establishment, it is maintained, that though possibly 
the virtuous heathen, who have never heard of the Gos- 
pel, may be saved, yet there is no hope for protestants ; 
and that those are to be charged with a dereliction of 
principle, who maintain or admit the possibility of their 
salvation. We are obliged to conclude, therefore, that, 
down to this day, the Church of Rome is altogether ex- 
clusive of other churches, and that, not only as churches, 



40 



THE TITLE. 



but as societies containing in them any members at all who 
are in a state of salvation, or who can be saved otherwise 
than by joining the Church of Rome, if they have an op- 
portunity of doing so. Since exclusiveness, then, is some- 
thing so opposite to universality or catholicity, what word 
can so ill characterize the Church of Rome as the term 
catholic ? But waiving this consideration, and even build- 
ing only upon the definition which the Church of Rome 
herself gives of the term catholic, it is evident that she 
has no exclusive right to the use of the term. For, ac- 
cording to her own standards, as has been shewn, the 
Catholic Church is the name for the whole body of the 
redeemed, triumphant as well as militant. Every Chris- 
tian, therefore, belongs to the Catholic Church. 

This definition of her own, then, sets us right with the 
Church of Rome as to the use of the term Catholic in the 
title of this work, since the following pages have chiefly 
for their object to shew the duty of a cordial acquies- 
cence in this very principle, that every Christian is a mem- 
ber of the catholic church ; and that all Christians ought to 
feel and act towards each other as Christian brethren ; 
and all churches to entertain towards each other those 
feelings of mutual recognition and esteem which are be- 
coming in the constituent parts of a great spiritual whole 
— a whole which, were this plan adopted, would in due time 
become visibly one church, and which even now, though 
visibly many, yet possesses a true and a spiritual unity 
under Christ its only head ; as do the branches of the 
same vine in which the same sap is circulating ; and 
" which (as Gregory I. beautifully says when describing 
the Catholic Church) has pushed forth as many buds as 
there have been saints since the righteous Abel, till the 
last of the elect who shall be born to the end of the 
world." * 

* Greg, in Ev. HomiL xix. 



THE TITLE. 



41 



Having thus vindicated the title of this work in refe- 
rence to the use which the Church of Rome makes of the 
term catholic, a very few words will be enough to do the 
same with respect to the churches of the Reformation. 
In short, the term catholic is everywhere used by them 
to signify universal. Thus, in the Westminster Confes- 
sion, which is to this day the standard of the Established 
Church of Scotland, and which of all that have ever been 
composed by any reformed church, is the most intensely 
opposed to the Church of Rome, we nevertheless find a 
perfect agreement with the Council of Trent as to the 
import of the term catholic. In the Westminster Con- 
fession, however, we have to admire the frankness and 
fulness with which the principle of Catholicism is laid 
down ; for there the ambiguous term church is omitted 
when the principle is stated. Catholicism is declared to 
extend unto all who in every place call upon the name of 
the Lord Jesus. 

The xxvth chapter, which relates to the Church, con- 
sists of six paragraphs, four of which explain the Catholi- 
cism of the church, and are as follows : — 

I. The catholic or universal church, which is invisible, 
consists of the whole number of the elect that have been, 
are, or shall be gathered into one, under Christ the head 
thereof, and is the spouse, the body, the fulness of Him 
that filleth all in all. 

II. The visible church, which is also catholic or universal 
under the Gospel (not confined to one nation as under 
the law), consists of all those throughout the world that 
profess the true religion, and of their children, and is the 
kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ, the house and family 
of God, out of which there is no ordinary possibility of 
salvation. 

III. Unto this catholic visible church Christ hath given 
the ministry, oracles, and ordinances of God, lor the go.- 

13 



42 



THE TITLE. 



thering and perfecting of the saints in this life to the end 
of the world, and doth by his own presence and spirit, 
according to his promise, make them effectual thereto. 

IV. This catholic church hath been sometimes more, 
sometimes less visible, and particular churches which are 
members thereof, are more or less pure, according as the 
doctrine of the Gospel is taught and embraced, ordi- 
nances administered, and public worship performed more 
or less purely in them. 

Add to these the two following paragraphs in the next 
chapter, on the Communion of the Saints. 

I. All saints that are united to Jesus Christ, their 
head, by his spirit and by faith have fellowship with him 
in his graces, sufferings, death, resurrection, and glory, 
and being united to one another in love, they have com- 
munion in each other's gifts and graces, and are obliged 
to the performance of such duties, public and private, as 
do conduce to their mutual good both in the inward and 
outward man. 

II. Saints by profession are bound to maintain a holy 
fellowship and communion in the worship of God, and in 
performing such other spiritual services as tend to their 
mutual edification, as also in relieving each other in out- 
ward things according to their several abilities and ne- 
cessities. Which communion, as God offereth opportunity, 
is to be extended unto all those who in every place call upon 
the name of the Lord Jesus. 

Having thus found that the Church of Rome and the 
Church of Scotland, which are extremes, do yet agree 
in attaching the same meaning to the term catholic, and 
that meaning the same which that term signifies in the 
title of this work ; having thus vindicated that title in re- 
ference to both, it will not be expected that the Church 
of England, which lies between, will present any other 
view, or require many words. Accordingly, we find all 



THE TITLE. 



43 



that is given in the Articles of that church, as a defini- 
tion of the church in these words, " The visible Church of 
Christ is a congregation of faithful men, in the which the 
pure word of God is preached, and the sacraments be duly 
administered according to Christ's ordinance in all those 
things that of necessity are requisite to the same." * And 
Bishop Burnet, who, perhaps, more than any other, may 
be regarded as the Church's expounder of her articles, 
thus sums up his observations upon this one, " If we be- 
lieve that any society retains the fundamentals of Chris- 
tianity, we do from that conclude it to be a true church, 
to have a true baptism, and the members of it to be ca- 
pable of salvation." The term catholic does not indeed 
occur here, nor do his texts require the author to make 
frequent use of it, since it does not even once occur in all 
the thirty-nine Articles. And, indeed, it must be con- 
fessed that the Clmrch of England, generally, is shy in 
the use of it, which is the more to be wondered at since 
it is an emphatic word in both the creeds which form part 
of her ritual, and the more to be regretted since her in- 
fluence is justly the greatest of all in fixing the use of 
words in the English language. Still, however, Bishop 
Burnet does occasionally use it, and when he does, he 
means by the catholic church, as we should expect, the 
aggregate of all those which he has defined above as true 
churches. Besides the use of the term catholic, we also 
find the principles of Catholicism duly stated by him. 
Thus under the thirty-fourth article, where he shews 
that in matters of rule and ritual, there was great variety 
in the unity of the church until Charlemagne began to 
force a uniformity over all, he says in one place, " It is 
therefore suitable to the nature of things, to the autho- 
rity of the magistrate, and to the obligations of the pas- 
toral care, that every church should act within herself as 

* Art. xix. 



44 



THE TITLE. 



an entire and independent body ;" and in another, " It 
is certain that all the parts of the Catholic Church ought 
to hold a communion one with another, and mutual com- 
merce and correspondence together." Add to this the 
observations on Catholicism already quoted, from Pearson 
on the Creed, another of the many lights of the Church 
of England, and let these remarks suffice on the subject 
as to the National Churches. 

And now, I presume, we may pass on. For as to the 
more considerable of the dissenting churches, their ac- 
tual voice (whatever the personal feelings of not a few 
dissenters) is in general as much in favour of Catholicism, 
in the sense in which the term is used in this work, as 
the standards of the national establishments have been 
shewn to be. Thus, one of their greatest ornaments con- 
cludes one of his works in these terms, with which let us 
also conclude this paragraph. " Reasoning (says Robert 
Hall) supplies an effectual antidote to mere speculative 
error, but opposes a feeble barrier to inveterate preju- 
dice, and to that contraction of feeling which is the 
fruitful parent of innumerable mistakes and misconcep- 
tions in religion. There is no room, however, for de- 
spondency, for as the dictates of Christian charity are al- 
ways found to coincide with the purest principles of rea- 
son, the first effect of inquiry will be to enlighten the 
mind, the second to expand and enlarge the heart ; and 
when the Spirit is poured down from on high, He will 
effectually teach us that God is love, and that we never 
please him more than when we embrace with open arms, 
without distinction of sect or party, all who bear his 
image."* 

* See a Reply to the Rev. M. Kingkorn, by Robert Hall, Conclu- 
sion. 



PART II. 

PRINCIPLES AND CONSIDERATIONS. 



I. PRINCIPLES. 

SCRIPTURE. 
TRADITION. 

AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 

REASON. 

GRACE. 

LIBERTY. 

TOLERATION. 

II. PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS. 

UNITY AND UNIFORMITY. 
THE SUBSTITUTION. 
THE PREPOSSESSION. 
THE QUESTION. 



( 47 ) 



THE SUPREMACY OF REVELATION. 

In every question touching religion, the authority of 
Revelation is supreme. How thankful ought we to be 
that we have such a light to guide us ! How little dis- 
posed to raise up our own opinions in opposition to it ! 

In the question, therefore, whether each individual 
denomination should consider itself as the alone type of 
what ought to be immediately over all, and refuse to 
recognise and feel kindly towards others which vary 
from it, or whether all " congregations of faithful men" 
should agree in considering each other as the varied 
members of the same body, some more, some less comely 
indeed, yet all members of Christ, all branches of the 
catholic church, and all to be tempered together, and 
each to have a care of the others, and all to rejoice when 
one is honoured, so that there be no schism in the body 
— in other words, in the question whether an universal 
uniformity in religion be alone right and commenda- 
ble, or whether, in the present age of the world at 
least, an unity of spirit in variety of form be not a con- 
stitution of the universal church permitted by the ge- 
nius of the Gospel, anticipated by prophecy, and sanc- 
tioned as the right road to a perfect unity in the latter 
day, we ought to come at once to revelation as the ar- 
biter and the test of truth. If it be expressly revealed, 
or if there be a general consent among intelligent be- 
lievers, that there is no toleration under the Gospel econo- 
my for variations, even in matters of comparative indif- 
ference, such as those which at present unhappily divide 
the various evangelical denominations, however perfect 



48 



TRADITION. 



the unity of spirit which animates and unites them all, 
if it plainly appear from revelation, that there is no per- 
mission in the Word of God, for a variety of forms in 
the externals of religion, and for differences of views in 
minor points ; but, on the contrary, that an universal 
uniformity and identity in views is the unconditional 
ordinance of God, and that alone which is compatible 
with the church of Christ in all ages and in every state 
of society, then there is neither place nor need for in- 
quiring about the matter ; — the following pages are 
wholly superfluous. However alarming the consequences 
of such a state of things, however dreadful the duties 
which the Christian may feel that it imposes on him, — 
though it call on every denomination now extant to un- 
church every other denomination, and thus to divide all 
Christendom against itself, — though it make it to be 
judged a duty by the strongest (especially if it deems it- 
self infallible) to try to impress conformity upon all the 
others, by every means and at all costs (For what is the 
torture or even the martyrdom of a few thousand who are 
lost at any rate, if, by their punishment, even one can be 
saved to the church, and much more if rising variations 
can be prevented ?) — the point is settled. From the 
decision of God's word there can be no appeal. It is 
right, therefore, that we begin by inquiring into the tes- 
timony and evidence of Revelation on the subject to 
which this work relates. 



TRADITION. 

But what are we to regard as revelation ? Shall we 
include under this name, not the written word only, but 
oral tradition also, and hold both as forming together 
the sum of revelation, and as matches for each other in 



TRADITION. 



49 



divine authority ? The Church of Rome does this, and 
pronounces anathema on all who dare to exalt the written 
word above tradition. But shall we do so ? Let us bestow 
a few words on the question, even though it detain us for 
a few moments on the threshold of our argument. For, 
of those who are opposed to the views of this work, and 
who maintain the necessity of an universal uniformity 
in religion, who require that every act of worship, and 
every point in all that relates to the church, shall be re- 
gulated and conducted according to certain formulae in 
their own possession, — formulae which fix every thing, and 
leave no place for the exercise of reason and conscience 
at all, and consequently none for variety between one 
church and another, — tradition is the stronghold. It is 
too much respected by a certain party in the Church of 
England. And the Church of Rome, as her warrant for 
the restraints which she imposes on the pious aspirations 
and the devout effusions of the individual soul, constantly 
appeals to the authority of traditions said to regulate all 
these things. Nor this without being responded to. There 
is a charm in the voice of antiquity. Wherever there is 
a doubt, there is hope in the idea of an ancient tradition. 
To this none is altogether insensible, whatever the sub- 
ject. But in the case of religion, it is felt more strongly than 
in any other. The unregenerated religious temperament 
always seeking evidence for its own prepossessions, courts 
the obscure, where there is, at all events, but little to 
contradict them, and possibly some hints, which may be 
built up into arguments in their favour. It, therefore, 
delights in antiquity, were it only on account of its ob- 
scurity. But more than this, in going to consult anti- 
quity, one feels as if he were going to the fountain- 
head, as if he were leaving the region of echoes for that of 
the original voices. And so he is. Let us not reject an- 
tiquity, therefore. Let us not take for granted that it is 

E 



50 



TRADITION, 



of no value, before we have learned what it is. Nor let 
the fact, that the inspired volume is sufficient for salva- 
tion and for guidance, supersede the inquiry into the tes- 
timony and the teaching of antiquity. The inspired vo- 
lume is indeed sufficient of itself ; but a knowledge of 
Christian antiquity must be instructive. It is the womb 
from whence both our fathers and we have sprung ; and, 
if we are rightly to know ourselves, we must know who 
have gone before us and made way for us, and what they 
have been, and done, and suffered. 

Seeking into Christian antiquity for original voices in 
religion, however, it is obvious that, in order to find them, 
we must go back all the way to the inspired writers them- 
selves. And with regard to the after ages, if the apostles, 
under the infallible guidance of the prophetic vision which 
they enjoyed, give any notices of what is coming, these 
notices, if we are to venerate antiquity, ought to guide 
us as to the reception we give to the utterances of the 
coming voices, at least in so far as they are originals, 
and do not carry in themselves the proof of their own 
goodness in the character of what they utter. Suppose the 
inspired writers teach us not to expect much from them, 
then viewed as mere authorities, their authority is dar- 
maged to that extent. Now this is exactly the case 
with respect to the ancient church. Our Saviour him- 
self, and all the apostles, inform us, and that very em- 
phatically, that perilous times were immediately com- 
ing, and that there was to be a great declension from 
the truth. Nor do they announce this in general terms 
only. They specify the very errors which were to prevail. 
Thev shew indeed that these errors were un working" them- 
selves even in their own days. Now, looking into the his- 
tory of the ancient church, we find not only errors, but 
these very errors prevailing. Are we then, in the face of 
the warning of our Saviour and all |he inspired writers, to 



TRADITION. 



51 



build upon this lapsing church as a model ? Are we not 
only to consult tradition, but to receive it as an autho- 
rity merely because it is a tradition, and independently 
of its own worth and of the numberless errors, perhaps, 
by which we find it surrounded in the page whence we 
have extracted it ? Surely not. 

It may indeed seem strange that the Church of Rome, 
or any other church, should appeal to tradition as a trust- 
worthy light, when we consider the well known fact that 
this authority, even in the age immediately succeeding 
the apostles, had been so little attended to, and was 
already so much obliterated, that it could not even de- 
cide when Easter ought to be kept. Though this be just 
one of those matters of ceremonial in regulating which 
the authority of tradition is principally claimed : yet on 
this point, and so early as the time of Poly carp, who was 
himself instructed by the apostles, conflicting traditions 
divided the Eastern and Western Churches, and began a 
controversy on the subject, which lasted for nearly two 
hundred years. Nay, if oral tradition had not begun to 
be contradictory and bewildering even in the days of the 
evangelists, what does St Luke mean in the preface to 
his gospel, where he assigns as his reason for writing it, 
— just that Theophilus might know the certainty of those 
things wherein he had been instructed ! Is there not 
plainly implied in these words a difference as to certain- 
ty, and consequently as to trust-worthiness, between 
what is written down, and what floats from lip to lip, 
and that both as a general principle, and as to the state 
of the case in those days ? 

Is it not very strange, then, that tradition should be 
appealed to as a guide in our days, to depart from which 
is declared to be guilt as great as to depart from Holy 
Scripture ! But let us not wonder. Tradition is neces- 
sary to the Church of Rome. However worthless it may 



52 



TRADITION. 



be, she cannot part with it, Wherever the sacerdotal 
order is to rule supreme, either it must make good that it 
has power to work miracles, or else traditions of divine 
authority must be claimed. Without either the one or 
the other, the pretension to a divine supremacy cannot 
be maintained. A theocracy cannot be simulated. Now. 
miracles cannot be had at pleasure. Every despotic 
priesthood, therefore, the Druidical, the Brahminical, as 
well as the Romish, have constantly had recourse to a 
divine tradition as the warrant for all their impositions. 

Nay, under the Mosaic economy, the Scribes and Pha- 
risees, as soon as the aggrandizement of their own order 
became a higher object with them than the ministry of 
true religion, had in like manner recourse to tradition. 
The law said, " Ye shall not add unto the word which I 
command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it."* 
But in the face of this most positive commandment, the 
Pharisees, as we learn from our Redeemer's own lips, 
" made the Word of God of none effect by their tradi- 
tions."! If, then, even in such circumstances, the Phari- 
sees got up traditions, let us not wonder if the similarly 
self-aggrandizing priesthood of the mediaeval church did 
the same. And if that priesthood did it in the middle 
ages, let us not wonder if the same priesthood does it 
still. For, not to speak of the difficulty of giving up a 
principle of long standing, especially in a church which 
claims to be infallible, the weakness of human nature 
teaches, that if you but grant a sufficiently urgent motive 
for any tenet, — the necessity, for instance, of tradition 
in order to uphold a system to which one is bred or wed- 
ded, and for which scripture, when alone, is felt to be an 
insufficient warrant, — -then, however untenable the pretext 
of tradition may obviously be when viewed by itself, 
you need not wonder if the advocate of that system is 
■t Deut. iv. 2. xii. 32. t Matt. xv. 6. 



TRADITION. 



53 



forthwith the advocate of tradition too. The love of sys- 
tem is always strong. Men, otherwise of strong minds, 
have often brought themselves to believe the silliest things 
rather than give up their systems. But system, when it is 
the basis of our profession, and when along with it status 
in society and temporal interests must sink or swim, will 
reconcile a man to hold and even maintain any thing. 
However deeply it is to be deplored, therefore, still it is 
not a matter of wonder that even enlightened men, if 
only they be Romish priests, should maintain the equal 
authority of tradition and of the written word. 

It must be admitted, however, that it is very difficult 
to conceive how a well educated layman, who is not un- 
der any of those necessities to which a Romish priest 
must reconcile himself in order to be a priest, and who is 
competent, in any moderate degree, to balance evidence, 
can regard, as equally trustworthy with the written word, 
the traditions brought forward by the clergy. For the 
written word lies before us in the very syllables penned 
by the inspired writers themselves ; while the traditions, 
even supposing them to have been unquestionable at 
first, have to be gathered from the pages of writers, often 
many ages after, — writers, for whom the essential qualifi- 
cation of inspired guidance is not claimed, and who, to 
tell the truth, have often little else but the venerable 
name of " fathers" to recommend them. No doubt it is 
maintained that to prevent the degradation of that which 
was apostolic and divine, the church which holds these 
traditions has also enjoyed all along an infallible guid- 
ance. But for a well educated man, it must surely be just 
as difficult to believe in the infallibility of the Church of 
Rome in this sense, as to believe in the authenticity of its 
traditions. For if history be good for any thing, it is 
good for shewing that both Roman Pontiffs and General 
Councils have contradicted themselves and each other 



54 



TRADITION". 



often ; and that, therefore, however necessary in theory, 
the doctrine of infallibility may be to a church which 
makes such extravagant pretensions as that of Rome, 
yet, in point of fact, that church has enjoyed no immu- 
nity from error. Plainly, therefore, it were contrary to 
every principle of good sense to place any traditions in 
the present day by the side of the written word as of equal 
authority. 

And while it is contrary to good sense thus to honour 
oral tradition, it is no less contrary to scripture, for 
we have, in the Word of God, three declarations, — and, 
as if to give all possible emphasis and appliance to them, 
they are equally distributed, — one at the beginning,* 
one in the middle,-f and one at the end % of the sacred 
volume, all peremptorily forbidding any additions to the 
commandments and revelations which it contains. 

The Apostle Paul does indeed, in two of his epistles, § 
write favourably concerning what are there called tradi- 
tions. It is to be remarked, however, that the term tra- 
dition, both in scripture, and in the fathers of the church, 
and indeed in modern philosophy too, is used not in con- 
tradistinction to the written word, but to the discoveries 
of reason and observation. It is used as synonymous 
with testimony. The charge which the iVpostle Paul 
gives the Thessaionians respecting traditions in the pas- 
sages referred to, proves nothing in favour of the Romish 
tenet. It only proves, that all the instructions which the 
Thessaionians ought to hold were not contained in the 
first epistle which the apostle had addressed to them — a 
consideration this apart altogether from the question be- 
tween the Reformed Churches and the Church of Rome. 
The other passage in like manner, in the second epistle 
to Timothy, proves nothing in favour of an oral tradition 

* Deut. iv. 2. t Prov. xxx. 6. X Rev. xxii. 18. 

§ 2 Tfcess, ii. 15 ; 2 Tim. ii. 2. 



AX INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



55 



superadded to the written word, and containing things 
not found in that word ; for there is no evidence that the 
things which St Paul had preached to Timothy before 
many witnesses, and which he charges him to commit to 
others, were different from what we find in some part or 
other of that manifold revelation of God which consti- 
tutes the inspired volume. And after all, even granting 
the existence of valuable traditions in those days, L: 
can one believe in their uncorrupted transmission down 
to the present day through so many ages, during which 
all things else have been changed ? Oral tradition must 
be given up. 



AX INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



Scripture must be taken as the only trustworthy reve- 
lation, and when it is admitted to be trustworthy it must 
also be admitted to be supreme. If, indeed, there were 
an infallible church, its authority would not only be on a 
level with that of Scripture, but necessarily superior, for 
to. it would belong the interpretation of Scripture ; and, 
consequently, whenever there was judged to be a doubt 
or a difficulty, we should be called upon to believe not 
what Scripture might appear to say (possibly plainly 
enough to us), but what the church said. In all cases, 
in short, where the church gave any deliverance at all, 
we should be called upon to receive its interpretations, 
its views. The word of God, being of an old date, 
could not possibly share the supremacy with any sub- 
sequent or viva voce power which claimed infallibility. 
The Scripture, in such a case, were worth consulting 
only on points (if there were any such) on which the 
church gave no deliverance. And, even in that case 
it would be incumbent on a thoughtful man, in order 



56 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



to avoid every hazard of misunderstanding what he read, 
to consult the church as to its meaning. In a word, if 
there be in the church an infallible interpretation of Scrip- 
ture, that is the only medium through which Scripture 
can be legitimately and safely viewed. And if this infal- 
lible guide profess at the same time to lead the believer 
in the way of life, without his needing to refer to Scrip- 
ture at all, he need not refer to it ; and if his guide forbid 
him, he cannot refer to it without sin. Grant only an 
infallible church, and Scripture is necessarily thrown alto- 
gether into the back ground. In truth, it becomes in 
that case wholly a superfluity to the private believer ; and 
in many cases also it cannot but be a restraint and a hin- 
derance to certain clergy. No wonder then that certain 
clergy should desire to raise up the more pliable code of 
oral tradition to balance the otherwise refractory teach- 
ing of Scripture. 

Now, though the existence of such an authority as 
must thus unavoidably sink the word of God to so low a 
place, might, from this circumstance alone, seem extreme- 
ly improbable, yet certainty is so pleasing to the human 
mind, and doubt, especially in a matter of such importance 
as religious truth, is so painful, that almost every one 
longs, in some period or other of his religious history, 
for an infallible guide and interpreter ; and the Latin 
Church, always wise in its generation, always ready to 
build something for its own aggrandizement on every 
desire of the human breast, met this longing. The 
Church of Rome, though not in an early age, advanced 
the claim to infallibility, and still maintains that she is 
infallible ! 

The more enlightened in that communion, no doubt, 
who are aware of the facts of the case, and who know 
full well that both the past history and the present state 
of the Romish Church are altogether incompatible with 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



57 



such a pretension, mean by infallibility, when attributed 
to their church, nothing more than that in her decisions 
which ought to lead us to acquiesce in them as of su- 
preme and ultimate authority, and as worthy of being 
received, for the truth if not the truth. But this is not 
the original doctrine of infallibility. Nor does the church 
herself give up her pretensions to this extent. On the 
contrary, she holds out that she is infallible in the just 
sense of the term; and those who defend her have adduced 
arguments to substantiate and justify her claims. 

Of these, the principal argument still is, the desirable- 
ness of infallibility in order to give peace of mind to 
anxious inquirers, and to preserve unity and order in the 
church. And if it really could effect these purposes with- 
out producing greater evils, no doubt infallibility would 
be desirable ; and if it were generally deemed desirable, 
no doubt it would be generally believed on more slender 
evidence than would be demanded, were it not an accept- 
able doctrine. This, through human weakness, however, 
and not because desirableness is actually any evidence of 
reality or existence. We ought to remember that we 
readily believe what we wish to believe, not to help our 
faith, but to be on our guard against believing what we 
wish to believe, until we find evidence for it. And, in the 
present case, it is obvious that, be infallibility ever so desi- 
rable, this is no evidence at all that the Church of Rome 
possesses the gift. 

How, then, is the claim of Rome to infallibility defend- 
ed ? To this end it is said that the church has, ever since 
the beginning, exercised the authority of teaching, deci- 
ding, and anathematizing those who would not submit to 
her authority. It is said that she received this authority 
I from Jesus Christ himself, and that it is not to be believed 
that he would have invested his church with authority to 
teach and decide controversies in the faith, without im- 



58 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



parting to her an infallible guidance at the same time. 
But this argument treats only of what man thinks that 
God ought to have done. It says nothing as to what God 
has done, and therefore is of no value in an inquiry rela- 
ting to a matter of fact, Nor is it of any soundness as an 
a-priori argument generally. If we find that God made 
man fallible even in paradise and before the fall, are we 
to expect that he should make him infallible afterwards, 
when, even though redeemed, there is still such darkness 
and weakness in him as we can scarce conceive infallibi- 
lity to be compatible with ? If we find that man's pri- 
mary position and calling in this world is for probation, 
are we to expect that in the highest and most especial 
walk of all, probation shall be superseded by infallible 
guidance being given ? Besides, this argument is of no 
service to the Church of Rome ; for the church, viewed 
in that aspect in which alone she is regarded as infalli- 
ble, did not give a single utterance till the fourth century 
(325). The deliverance of an ecumenic council is alone 
held to be infallible, and at that epoch for the first time 
was an ecumenic council held. Preceding councils were 
merely the consultations of particular churches, which 
the Church of Rome does not regard as infallible autho- 
rities. During the preceding centuries, therefore, inqui- 
rers had no other guides in religion but their individual 
teachers, building on* the word of God, and the instruc- 
tions they had received from those who taught them. It 
is said, indeed, that during the earlier ages general coun- 
cils were not needed, because the voices of the apostles 
were still echoing in all the churches. Good. And so 
they are still in all the churches of the Reformation. The 
voices of the Evangelists and apostles do indeed supply 
an infallible guidance, — all the infallible guidance that is 
given, — all that is needful. And we place them in the 
bands of every believer, saying to him as Moses did to 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



59 



the church of old, " The commandment, which I com- 
mand thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is 
it far off. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, 
Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, 
that we may hear it, and do it ? Neither is it beyond 
the sea, that thou shouldst say, Who shall go over the 
sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and 
do it ? But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, 
and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." * 

But it is said the Scripture is obscure — you cannot at- 
tain to certainty in this way. Tell us then, what advan- 
tage over one of the evangelical has a member of the 
Church of Rome, in virtue of that infallibility which his 
church lays claim to, and pretends to supply to the faith- 
ful ? Except in so far as the obscure decretals of the 
Council of Trent are sufficient to guide him, which, by 
the way (and much to the prejudice of the infallibility of 
Rome), he owes to the Reformation, and in which respect 
he is no wise superior to the Protestant, who commonly 
has his confession of faith too, the Romanist has no higher 
authority in any point than just the individual opinion of 
his own priest, or of some one else whom the church does 
in no degree warrant to be infallible. Say that, on any point 
that he is anxious about, the Romanist is dissatisfied with 
the deliverance of his priest, he may indeed go from him to 
his bishop, and possibly the bishop may give him a deliver- 
ance and a catechism for his guidance. But the bishop if 
pressed to say whether his own deliverance may be re- 
garded as infallible will be obliged to confess that neither 
he nor his catechism is infallible, any more than the priest 
originally consulted. Nor are matters mended by leaving 
the bishop for an archbishop, or a cardinal, or the Pope 
himself, or the conclave, or the whole Court of Rome. 
Before the inquirer can obtain a deliverance, which, ac- 
* Deut. xxx. II. 



60 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



cording to the principles of the Church of Rome, shall be 
certainly infallible, a general council must be called. But 
this, of course, is as unavailable to the anxious inquirer 
as if there were no such infallible, but last resort. More- 
over, this admission of the infallibility of general councils 
is a statement which, after all, will not bear examination. 
For, on the one hand, there have been general councils 
whose decisions have been rejected ; and, on the other, 
when, we ask, who is it, or what is it that receives, and 
of course considers the decrees of general councils, and 
consents to receive them as infallible, we can get no other 
answer but that it is the church — the church. Is the 
church then an authority distinct from that of a general 
council ? What is it ? No Romanist has as yet been 
able to tell. The truth is, that supposing there were in- 
fallibility in the Church of Rome, still it would be impos- 
sible to submit oneself to it in practice, for no one can 
tell where the infallible authority resides. In point of 
fact, the infallible guidance which the Church of Rome 
promises to her votaries, is nothing better than the opi- 
nion of the individual priest who is consulted. And if, 
indeed, it be not the truth itself that the inquirer is seek- 
ing, but only some authority which it will be safe for him 
to rest in, according to the principles of the church, then, 
in that case, his own priest is duly charged and autho- 
rized by the Church to teach him ; and in his instruction 
he may at once rest more becomingly than any where 
else. But, in this case, it is no longer concerning truth, 
but only peace of mind, that inquiry is made. Moreover, 
the serious inquirer, who has the Bible in his possession, 
will not feel altogether at liberty to close it and go to 
a priest, especially when he recollects such words of 
our Saviour as these : " They have Moses and the pro- 
phets, let them hear them."* When he recollects that the 

* Luke xvi. 29. 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



61 



sacred volume is given as the charter between the priest- 
hood and the people in such words as these : " To the 
law and to the testimony ; if they speak not according to 
this word, it is because there is no light in them."* He 
will not feel very able to rest satisfied with the mere 
dicta of his teacher, especially when he learns that at 
certain epochs of the Jewish church, which in the early 
ages of its history produced miracles and other sure 
evidences of infallibility, the teachers were such, that 
from the least of them even unto the greatest of them, 
every one was given to covetousness ; and from the 
prophet even unto the priest, every one decided falsely, 
that they healed also the hurt of the daughter of the 
people of God slightly, saying, Peace, peace ; when there 
was no peace.-|- 

The whole semblance of strength — the whole plausi- 
bility of the Church of Rome, consists in a dexterous sub- 
stitution of itself exclusively in the place of the catholic 
church, the universal church, which, as has already been 
shewn, is, according to the Council of Trent itself, invi- 
sible. With regard to the Catholic church, it may, in one of 
its branches at least, be truly said to be infallible, and that 
in the sense of being above the hazard of erring, since it 
embraces the saints in glory, as well as those who are now 
militant with error in the world. But there is much that 
is true of the catholic church viewed as a whole, which 
cannot be truly maintained in reference to any particular 
church. Particular churches are, to the whole, the uni- 
versal or catholic church, what particular races of men are 
to the whole of humanity. And, as many things may be 
predicated of humanity as a whole, and in the abstract, 
which cannot be affirmed of any individual race of men, 
so may many things be predicated of the catholic church, 
which cannot be affirmed of any particular or visible church, 
* Isaiah, viii. 20. t Jeremiah, vi. 13. 



62 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



whether Romish or Protestant. Of the catholic church, 
not only may infallibility, and that in a high sense, be 
affirmed, but final triumph also. When the apostle Peter 
made the glorious confession, " Thou art the Christ the 
Son of the living God, Jesus answered and said unto 
him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona : for flesh and blood 
hath not revealed it unto thee, but my father which is in 
heaven. And I say unto thee, That thou art Peter, and 
upon this rock I will build my church ; and the gates of 
hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee 
the keys of the kingdom of heaven ; and whatsoever thou 
shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven ; and what- 
soever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.'" 
In these words, so often quoted, infallibility in a high 
sense is promised by the Saviour, — infallibility in point 
of duration to the church, — infallibility as to the keys, 
and binding and loosing to the apostle Peter. But infal- 
libility is not promised to any particular church, only to 
Christ's Church, as a whole, or an unity. " Upon this 
rock," says our Saviour, " I will build my church" — 
which words, tracing the reference to its fountain, and 
the pronoun to its noun, lead us to the Christ the Son of 
the living God, as the rock (nsroa) on which the church 
was to be built, and to Peter (Vsrfoc) as a stone, a con- 
stituent part holding a prominent place in that church. 

Now, while touching on this often quoted passage, it 
may be remarked, that there is ample room for discussion 
as to what is implied in these words respecting Peter : but 
there is scarcely any room for doubt as to what is im- 
plied in the promise, that the gates of hell shall not pre- 
vail against the church. And indeed, what can be a more 
explicit commentary on this passage, than the following 
words of our Saviour : — " I know my sheep, and they fol- 
low me : And I give unto them eternal life : and they 
shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



63 



of my hand. My father, which gave me them, is greater 
than all ; and no man is able to pluck them out of my 
Father's hand."* 

Another of the few passages of scripture which the 
Church of Rome finds available for setting off its claim to 
infallibility, is the promise of our Saviour to be with his 
apostles till the end of the world. The passage of scrip- 
ture is in these terms : — " Then the eleven disciples went 
away into Galilee, into a mountain, where Jesus had ap- 
pointed them. And when they saw him, they worship- 
ped Mm : but some doubted. And Jesus came and spake 
unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven 
and in earth. Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Ghost ; teaching them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you : and lo, I 
am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. "*f- 
From these words we learn that Jesus Christ sent the 
eleven apostles as his ambassadors to all men. From 
them the whole world was to learn the doctrine of sal- 
vation, and the laws of the kingdom of God. What a 
charge ! what an undertaking ! Well might they say, 
who is sufficient for these things ! If some of them 
" doubted" before this charge was given, how little heart 
must they have for such a mission ! How distrustful of 
their ability must even the best disposed have felt ! But 
our Saviour immediately removes all their doubts, and their 
disabilities. " Lo, I am with you alway, even to the 
end of the world." And this promise not only sustained 
the apostles in their day, and enabled them to achieve 
wonders, but still holds true, and literally extends to us ; 
for though the apostles themselves have long since been 
taken from this scene, their ministry still exists in the 
sacred writings, and the spirit of Christ is with them there, 
" John x. 27. t Matt, xxviii, 19. 



64 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



and daily blesses them to the conversion of sinners, and the 
edification of saints all over the world. Thus, it appears 
that this promise was made to the apostles, and that it 
has been fully realized in reference to them. But say 
that we extend it, so as to believe it equally good in re- 
ference to every successful teacher of the truth, — and this 
we safely may do, since, whether in virtue of this promise 
or not, certain it is that Christ is with every such teacher 
of his word, — still, how can such a substitution be made as 
to appropriate this promise to the Church of Rome ex- 
clusively ? and, even granting it to apply to that church 
exclusively, what warrant does it give for infallibility ? 
Plainly to argue infallibility from such words, is a fetch 
which reason never can assent to. 

The only other passage of scripture which the Romanist 
can find to assist his pretensions, is in the First Epistle 
of Paul to Timothy. This epistle, the apostle informs 
us, he wrote, in order to teach Timothy how he ought 
to behave himself in the house of God, which (says he), 
" is the Church of the living God ;" " the pillar and ground 
of the truth ;" and in these words, say the Romanist, 
we find an intimation of our infallibility. But even ta- 
king these words in the connection in which they are here 
given, it is plain that they do not teach the infallibility of 
the Church of Rome in any sense. For it is obvious that 
they refer to the church where Timothy then was. But 
he was then at Ephesus. They refer, therefore, to that 
church. But since many errors soon crept into that 
church, and it no longer exists, these words cannot im- 
ply infallibility, either as to duration or doctrine. Viewed 
in connection with the preceding words, as we have here 
given them, and applied to the church as they most ge- 
nerally are, they are indeed full of a beautiful meaning. 
They are calculated to remind every Church of Christ, 
not of its rights, but of its duty. They remind us of the 



AN INFALLIBLE CHURCH. 



65 



fact, that every church is a pillar reared up in the midst 
of the darkness of this world, bearing the word of the 
Lord to men. And every church ought to remember that 
not to keep up or hide, but to give forth that light is its 
especial calling. These words, therefore, when viewed 
in connection with the church, rather condemn the Church 
of Rome, than support its claims to infallibility. 

In many Greek Testaments, however, the text is point- 
ed so as to withdraw these words from their connection 
with what has gone before, and to give them as the in- 
troduction to the following deliverance of the apostle. 
According to this view the whole passage stands thus : 
" These things write I unto thee, hoping to come unto 
thee shortly : but if I tarry long, that thou mayest know 
how thou oughtest to behave thyself in the house of God, 
which is the church of the living God. The pillar and 
ground of the truth, and, without controversy, great is 
the mystery of godliness : — God was manifest in the flesh, 
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the 
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into 
glory."* According to either connection, the words have 
a noble meaning. As to which is the true connection, 
however, no one has any thing to say but the Greek 
scholar ; we will not, therefore, argue in favour of the 
latter, though, if it be the true one, it saves all comment, 
because it withdraws the words from the church, and at- 
taches them to that great truth, through which alone, 
and for the sake of which alone, the church exists. 

The few passages which have thus been noticed, ex- 
haust all that the scriptures can be made to contribute 
to the doctrine of infallibility in the church ; and as the 
evils of such a pretension will fall to be noticed after- 
wards, when we touch on the subject of Toleration, we 
may here close this subject, scripture being thus found, 
* 1 Tim. iii. 14. 

F 



66 



REASON AND CONSCIENCE. 



so far as we have gone, in the entire possession of the 
field. 

REASON AND CONSCIENCE. 

If we find in scripture, precepts or parables, or histo- 
rical illustrations, preponderating in favour of an unity 
of spirit in variety of form, as a constitution of the ca- 
tholic church, not uncongenial with the spirit of the gos- 
pel, and as we see unavoidable to all appearance, at least 
in such a state of society as that which now prevails in 
the world, we are safe in calling upon Christians to put 
away the grudges which they bear towards one another, 
while it is but prejudice of education, or at best but con- 
science not yet fully enlightened, that parts them into 
various communions. We are safe in calling upon them 
" to receive one another," and to strive together to " main- 
tain the unity of the spirit in the bonds of peace." Nay. 
we are more than safe. All Christians are bound to do 
so. Harmony, in the mean time, is in that case plainly 
indicated, as the way to a complete agreement and unity 
in the end. But if, on the contrary, we find an universal 
uniformity unconditionally taught in the word of God, 
every thing must give way before an immediate effort to 
establish it. In that case, however unattainable in such 
a state of human nature as the present, such an unifor- 
mity over all may appear, however seemingly inappro- 
priate in the present day to such an institution as an 
universal church, extending over many people, in vari- 
ous states of social development — still all the difficulties 
which it seems to involve, must be surmounted. All the 
arguments against it must be rejected. They must all 
be ascribed to a defect in our intellect, failing in this 
case, as we may well expect it to do in many cases, when 
attempting to discover the fitness of the appointments of 



REASON AND CONSCIENCE. 



67 



the Infinite, who, looking at the end from the beginning, 
and co-ordinating his designs with infinity and eternity, 
not with a single point in space and time as we do, may 
well be expected to transcend in all that He does, the 
finite comprehensions of such creatures as we are. If an 
universal uniformity be the revealed will of God, then, 
however decidedly reason may give the preference to 
something else, still, in that case, her first act, in order 
to entitle her to the name of reason, were to suspect 
either her own processes or the data on which she pro- 
ceeded ; her first duty were to discover, or at least ad- 
mit, that she was wrong. 

Reason can only be the handmaid, not the mistress, of 
revelation. But as the handmaid, she can do very much 
for the advancement of the truth. In fact, though the 
primary object of the gospel revelation be to make known 
the salvation of man by Jesus Christ, yet, in all that is 
secondary, and relating to this world, revelation consists 
much more in the bringing to light of those great prin- 
ciples of piety and morality, which are necessary for the 
enlightenment of reason and conscience, than in the laying 
down of particular laws, calculated to supersede the ac- 
tivities of these heaven-born principles. There are cer- 
tain states of mind, indeed, when positive precepts are 
indispensable, in order to a pious and virtuous life. And 
when such states of mind existed, and such precepts 
were needed, they have not been withheld. Positive 
precepts were needed by the Israelites, for instance, just 
emancipated from the degrading bondage of Egypt ; for 
in that people, at that time, reason and conscience were 
at zero, and would scarcely be trusted for anything. And 
accordingly, we find a very ample code of ordinances in 
the institutes of Moses. And yet, as if to intimate that 
a positive precept should always be something more also 
than a mere positive precept, and have a spirit as well as 



68 



GRACE. 



a mere body, these ordinances were also made types, so 
that they are not positive precepts merely, but beautiful 
symbolic pictures also, figuring to those to whom they 
were given, the evangelical principles and economy, which 
were to be fully developed only in an age long after. Yet, 
high as their nature thus was, they were not intend- 
ed to last for ever. They were, in fact, a ministry de- 
signed for the infancy of the church only. And as there 
was an infancy of the church then, so was there a man- 
hood to follow thereafter. As the people of God were 
placed under a schoolmaster then, so did the Son of 
God set them free thereafter. 

But, while it is thus maintained that a grand object 
of revelation is to enlighten reason, and restore supre- 
macy to conscience, and so to establish Christian liberty, 
let it never be forgotten that the enlightener is ever 
superior, and more trustworthy than that which it en- 
lightens ; and that in every inquiry, such as that on which 
we are now entering, the precepts of revelation, when 
such are to be found in the word of God, are of supreme 
authority. In reference to all such, reason, if she can- 
not understand them, or see their fitness, must at least 
be silent; and conscience, if she cannot feel their justness, 
must at least maintain their authority. 



GRACE. 

But are reason and conscience, it may possibly be asked, 
ever placed in such a predicament by the Word of God 
that neither can the one understand nor the other ap- 
prove what revelation propounds ? This is a very in- 
teresting question, and a few words in answer to it are 
needful here ; for it may be thought by some that in 
the following work too much is built on the deductions 



GRACE. 



69 



of reason and the testimony of conscience. The author 
is, therefore, naturally anxious to point out what he re- 
gards as the limits and the proper sphere of these prin- 
ciples. 

With regard to the place of reason and conscience, 
then, it is to be maintained that on all subjects on which 
the Word of God gives no rule, these instructors give 
the best, indeed the only trust- worthy guidance. But it is 
no less true, and needs still more to be considered (for it 
is not equally assented to), that reason and conscience, 
however valuable for all practical and many doctrinal 
purposes, are yet, when unassisted by grace, quite incom- 
petent to appreciate and lay hold of the principles of 
evangelical religion. Nor is this difficult to be accounted 
for. Such an incompetency unavoidably results from the 
fact that reason and conscience were constituted in para- 
dise, while evangelical religion, on the contrary, was not 
constituted till after the fall. Nor is any disparagement 
implied in this remark. Evangelical religion, in fact, 
could not have been constituted sooner ; for not till the 
fall was the element of guilt introduced. Not till the 
fall, therefore, could religion become sacrificial. But if 
so, not till the fall could it become evangelical ; for sacri- 
fice is the element out of which all that we call evan- 
gelical in doctrine is developed. And if reason and con- 
science when unaided cannot appreciate the doctrine of 
sacrifice, they must be in the same predicament with re- 
spect to the doctrine of the atonement, and all the pecu- 
liar doctrines of evangelical religion. 

Now, from the circumstance which has been mentioned, 
(namely, the fact that reason and conscience were or- 
ganised before the fall, and in relation to a state of in- 
nocence and consequently of self-righteousness) it is not 
to be expected that these powers, in the exercise of their 
natural functions at least, should be able to understand 



70 



GRACE. 



the doctrine of sacrifice. It would even be strange if they 
did. For natural reason being an original endowment of 
man, an endowment of an unfallen creature, and conse- 
quently co-ordinated with a state of innocence, and framed 
to act in relation to an unfallen or guiltless state, its views 
are unavoidably those suitable to an unfallen creature. 
Natural reason, therefore, can only be expected to frame 
and build up a system of religion, on the hypothesis that 
the subjects of it are, or at least ought to be, innocent 
creatures. It cannot be expected to frame and build up, 
or even acquiesce in a system, of which a first principle 
is, that the subjects of it are all of them unavoidably and 
from the first guilty and condemned creatures. 

The doctrine of merit and demerit, therefore, of re- 
wards and punishments, of the necessary connection be- 
tween happiness and holiness and between sin and misery, 
the principles of natural religion, in short, these are all 
that are to be looked for from natural reason. The doc- 
trine of the atonement and justification by the merits of 
another, as it had no place in the economy of man's pri- 
meval state, so is it not to be expected that there will be 
any feelings to respond to it in the primeval mental or 
moral economy of man, of which natural reason and con- 
science are the principal elements. The scheme of sal- 
vation being a subsidiary system, developed out of the 
infinite resources of a God of love to meet the emergency 
into which sin had plunged the world, it is no wonder if 
both reason and conscience (which are not subsidiary but 
original faculties) when first addressed on the subject 
of redemption, should feel themselves strangers to that 
scheme. Although that scheme was no afterthought with 
Him who seeth the end from the beginning, and has pro- 
vided for every thing that we call a contingency from 
eternity, yet not being manifested and realized till after 
our moral and mental constitution had been framed and 



GRACE. 



71 



fixed in favour of other views, the scheme of salvation is 
in the position of an afterthought with respect to us. 
And hence, at first sight, it looks more wonderful than 
true, and strikes the mind as rather revolting than plea- 
sing. Personal merit being the primeval constitution of 
things, — that constitution which the mind of man was ori- 
ginally framed for, — so the form of the natural mind is na- 
turally all in favour of personal righteousness, as the only 
ground of acceptance. It is only to be expected, therefore, 
that the doctrine of vicarious suffering and merit, when 
first proposed to the unaided mind, should seem destitute 
of verisimilitude both in the eye of reason and of con- 
science. Hence it is not to be wondered at that many 
persons finding these doctrines plainly set forth in the 
Bible, should reject altogether the claims of that book 
to be regarded as divine. Nor is it more to be wondered 
at, if others brought by reason into this dilemma, that 
they must admit the volume on the ground of its histo- 
rical evidence, while yet they cannot acquiesce in the 
doctrines which it seems to set forth, should exert all their 
ingenuity to explain away these doctrines, and to work 
round everything into that shape which alone their rea- 
son can understand and their conscience approve. Thus 
it is not to be wondered at, that men going wholly and * 
merely by the guidance of unassisted reason and con- 
science, fall into infidelity on the one hand, and unita- 
rianism on the other, and engender neology in a hun- 
dred forms between. This is only what is to be expected. 
The peculiar doctrines of the gospel being an order of 
truths realized only subsequently to the creation, both 
reason and conscience when left to themselves are too far 
behind to overtake them — too old to understand them. 
These principles, therefore, are not and cannot be of 
themselves adequate to evangelize the soul. And if what 
has been advanced has been rendered intelligible (in his 



72 



GRACE. 



endeavours after which the author trusts the reader will 
excuse his repetition), the reader will admit that it would 
be strange if they could. 

It is certain, however, that many of the most trust- 
worthy among our race do believe the evangelical doc- 
trines, and rejoice in them, and find, in their own happy 
experience, that however hotly reason and conscience 
may have once repelled these doctrines, yet they not 
only acquiesce in them now, but expand with delight in 
the contemplation of them, and feel as if, when thus 
engaged, they were rising up towards heaven, and com- 
ing even to the embrace of infinity itself. 

And how comes this to pass, it may well be asked, if 
natural reason and conscience be so insufficient for these 
things, as has just been argued? The Scriptures them- 
selves resolve this question. There we learn, that, in 
order to enable the reason and conscience of fallen man 
to embrace the evangelical doctrines, a special dispen- 
sation of grace was brought into action at the time that 
the machinery of salvation was set agoing, a special 
divine influence is made to bear upon the human soul. 
In its operation, indeed, this influence is like the wind, 
which bloweth where it listeth, and we hear the sound 
thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh, or whether it 
goeth ; but however impalpable its goings forth, faith 
results. And this principle implanted and bringing forth 
its fruits, the soul finds itself clinging to certain truths 
and moral principles, which it repudiated before. And 
by that faith and these truths sustained and developed 
in the soul, the whole mental and moral economy is 
gradually worked into harmony with Revelation. The 
peculiar doctrines of the gospel, which were at first be- 
lieved, only because they could no longer be rejected, 
which were held in darkness within the mind, and in 
solitary isolation from all other truths, because their har- 



GRACE. 



73 



mony with them could not be perceived, become gra- 
dually invested with the light both of intellectual and 
moral truth, and begin to fraternize kindly with all 
other truths. And whereas, at first, they were deemed 
precious only for the relief they gave the soul anxious 
about its own salvation, they begin now to be appre- 
ciated for the sake of their own moral worth likewise. 
Not only is the soul able to believe them, in virtue of the 
faith it possesses, not only does the principle of self- 
preservation feel safe in resting in them ; but now reason 
and conscience, all, in a word, that is most noble in 
the soul, begins to embrace them with rapture, and to 
declare that the gospel scheme is not only a safe haven 
and sabbath for all the anxieties of a sinner respecting 
the after-life, but is also the very beauty of holiness. 

Such is the progress of the soul under the influence of 
the Holy Spirit. The principles of reason and con- 
science, which, as they do not naturally recognise the 
fall, but, on the contrary, stand up for man's primeval 
rights, and thus, either openly or secretly, reject the gospel 
scheme of salvation, experience, as it were, an immer- 
sion in a fountain of spiritual light, which the soul has 
been baptised into, from whence they soon emerge with 
more than all their original powers. Not that there is 
any substitution or subversion of these powers, — on the 
contrary, they are changed only, and changed only in 
this, that they are strengthened, and put in possession 
of new facts and views, to form a basis for new reasonings 
and new convictions. Then knowledge is extended. 
Their powers are exalted. But the laws they obey, and 
the functions they perform, are the same as ever. They 
are regenerated, but not either superseded or subverted. 
Thus it fully appears, that while this dispensation of the 
Holy Spirit is altogether indispensable to the man who 
is to be a believer in salvation, in order that his reason 

G 



74 



GRACE. 



and conscience may be adapted to his new relation to 
his God, so peculiarly changed by the fall from what it 
was at the creation, it equally appears that this, the dis- 
pensation of grace, is conducted by God on the same ge- 
neral plan as that of merit, which preceded it in Para- 
dise. Thus, as our belief in first truths, generally, is not 
the product of reason, but of evidence which is immediate, 
and which, though we trust entirely, we cannot explain 
or demonstrate, and which, in a word, is evidently the gift 
of our Creator ; so faith is an analogous gift, only its ob- 
ject is the spiritual, not the natural ; it gives substance and 
evidence to things which are invisible, and seemingly 
unreal to natural intuition. In a word, faith is to the 
spiritual world just what common sense is to the natu- 
ral. And spiritual objects once perceived and believed, 
hold a place in the mind wholly analogous to that which 
natural truths and intuitions generally do. Both the na- 
tural and the spiritual equally become a field for the ex- 
ercise and play of reason and conscience. In a christian 
state of mind, therefore, some intuitions are of nature, 
and some are of grace ; and the latter can no more be 
dispensed with in order to true religion, than the former 
can in order to common sense. But these fundamen- 
tal truths, whether implanted by the power of natural 
belief or by faith, once possessed, then, all subsequent 
discoursing in the mind upon them is either an exercise 
of reason or of conscience. Eventually, therefore, in a 
right state of grace, it is just as it was in a right state 
of nature, these principles come to be altogether inva- 
luable, and are constantly called into action. 

And, indeed, when we consider the nature and origin 
of reason and conscience, it is not to be wondered at that 
all the highest duties, both of thought and action, should 
be devolved upon them. For, however sadly they may 
often miscarry when acting in the midst of all our present 



ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 75 

embarrassments without, and all our tortuous feelings 
within, yet, true it is, and of verity, that truth and good- 
ness alone are their proper objects of pursuit. It is also 
certain that their most general laws are the same in all 
our race, however much individual men may differ from 
each other in all other respects. Nay, so far as we can 
conceive, the laws of reason and conscience must be the 
same in all intelligences whatever. But if the objects of 
these principles be truth and goodness ; and if their laws 
be the same throughout the whole universe of spirit, to 
what do these facts point but to this conclusion, that rea- 
son and conscience are reflections in the mirror of the hu- 
man soul, nay, the inbreathings into the life of man of the 
Divine mind itself. In maintaining, therefore, the ab- 
solute necessity of divine grace and of faith, in order to 
our being entered in the gospel, it will be perceived that 
no dishonour is done to reason and conscience, but only 
that an admission is made that these principles, as they 
exist in the fallen creature, need an additional stream 
from the fountain from which they are themselves always 
flowing, in order to be adapted to a Christian calling, 
and to be entitled to that supremacy which they always 
affect, and which they can rightly exercise in the Chris- 
tian alone. It is just because reason and conscience are 
rivers of Paradise that another channel needed to be 
opened for them when man was driven forth. 



ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 

Reason and conscience, guided by scripture and en- 
larged by grace, determine Christian liberty, and direct and 
limit its outgoings. And here let us bestow a few words 
on the subject of liberty, partly because it may be truly 
said that the principal office of religion is to regulate hu- 



76 



ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



man liberty, and partly in order to prevent those mis- 
takes which an unexplained use of the term might pos- 
sibly cause in the sequel. It is also a term which stands 
much in need of explanation. What term in language 
more ambiguous than the term liberty ? How sacred I 
How profane ! What glorious deeds have been achieved 
— what crimes have been perpetrated, equally in the 
name of liberty ! It is the darling of the human heart, 
but, like other darlings, has it not often been sadly spoiled, 
and grown up a very self-willed child ? Yes, lawless men, 
trying to consecrate their evil deeds by the best names 
they can find for them, have so desecrated the name of 
liberty, that the best friends of liberty are often the most 
reluctant to use the term ; and many a time the truly 
pious soul is alarmed at the very mention of it, Nor this 
without cause. It is no exaggeration to sa}^, that men 
are not only continually mistaking the true nature of 
liberty, but actually reversing the use of the term, calling 
necessity liberty, and liberty necessity. 

We do not mean the few philosophers named Necessi- 
tarians, who, having filtered and strained their notion of 
liberty through fold after fold of their understandings, lose 
it altogether at last, and ultimately cannot collect that 
there is such a thing as liberty within the sphere of hu- 
man agency at all. These are but the speculative few, 
whose aim is theory, not practice — who, at worst, do only 
mistake, not misuse — who, though their metaphysical 
chemistry be not powerful enough to disengage the prin- 
ciple of liberty, and present it to the understanding in a 
separate form, yet feel it, and live like others in the con- 
sciousness and use of it ; or, if they do not feel that they 
are free, yet they cannot help acting as if they were, be- 
cause they do not know, any more than others, that which 
must be until it has been, and so must choose their steps 
just like the less metaphysical. In a word, necessitarians 



ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



77 



aim at nothing more than a philosophical theory respect- 
ing the principle of liberty. They are so far from deny- 
ing that which all the world calls liberty, that it forms 
the bases of all their inquiries. The doctrine of neces- 
sity, even supposing it just, is but the philosophy of 
liberty. Let that pass therefore. 

Those whom we would charge with rendering this dis- 
cussion necessary, by perverting the use of the term 
liberty, are not philosophers. They are men of the 
world, unquiet spirits, who, either urged by a wild self- 
will, or a boundless demand for pleasure, or possibly a 
naked hatred of all control, live in the ridiculous belief, 
that true liberty consists in the mere absence of external 
restraint ! Such is their notion of liberty. And yet, 
grant them all permission, still they have nothing in 
their power but to yield to the arbitrary demands of some 
tyrant within. But for the law of God I should be free, 
says one, when he is goaded by the impatience of some 
consuming lust. But for the laws of the state, I should 
be free, says another, when he is urged by crime, or pos- 
sibly by some daring ambition that seeks to make others 
like himself a slave. Nor is it bad men only who are 
wanting in freedom. Others, who are in many things 
much to be commended and admired, are still, in many 
cases, far from being free men. But for the deadness 
and backwardness of those around me, who used to be my 
friends, and the friends of the cause I espouse, I should 
be free, says one, when he is impelled by the boldness of 
inconsiderate zeal. — Oh ! were I but removed from the 
chilling influences of vulgar life, I should be free, says 
another, when he is transported into the more congenial 
region of his own fancy, on the bliss-exalting wings of 
enthusiasm. Only free me from the claims this world has 
on me, and then I shall be free, says another, when he is 
carried away, in love with the oblivious and mystic sweet- 



78 



ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



ness of reverie, and lives to dream, and dreams to live. In 
a word, each regards himself as not free, only because of 
some external influence, which alone, as he thinks, pre- 
vents his liberty. But, in point of fact, though all such 
external hindrances were completely swept away from 
all such persons, still the man of lust, the man of ambition, 
the man of passion, and not less the man of blind zeal, 
of esthetic enthusiasm, or of reverie, is just as little free 
when yielding to the impulse which urges or engrosses 
him, as the man who sleeps and dreams. There may, 
indeed, be in the reserve of his constitution, the possibi- 
lity and the power of liberty. But whether there be so 
or no, his present indulgence, however sinful or admira- 
ble in itself, or in its fruits, is not an exercise of liberty. 
On the contrary, he is the creature of impulse, and all 
such impulses, whether tending to the most ignoble or 
the noblest objects, are of the nature of necessity, — all 
yielding to them is self abandonment. 

True liberty does not consist in indulgence of any kind. 
If that is to be called liberty at all, it is the liberty of sen- 
sitive creatures merely, not of rational. It is not a liberty 
suitable to him who was made in the image of God. 
It is not the liberty to which the children of God are 
called, and wherein they ought to stand fast.* It is not 
the true liberty with which the Son of God has made his 
people free.t It is not the perfect law of liberty, wherein 
whoso continueth is blessed.^ They who promise them- 
selves liberty in this way, are themselves the slaves of 
corruption, for, of whatever a man is overcome, of the 
same is he brought into bondage. § 

Instead of lying in indulgence, the first element of all 
true liberty is self-command. Not until one has acquired 
the mastery of self, has he ceased to be a slave, and risen 

* Gal. v. 1-13. t John viii. 36. 

t James i. 25. § 2 Peter ii. 19. 



ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



79 



to the true rank of a man. Till then he is in chains. 
They may be chains of gold, or chains of iron ; but still 
they are chains ; and he is a slave. Yes, whether it be 
beauty that fascinates him, or money that engrosses him, 
or pride that swells him, or bashfulness that unmans 
him, or ambition that burns him, or indolence that dis- 
arms him, or envy that corrodes him, or glory that in- 
flames him, or revenge that maddens him, or tenderness 
that makes him weak, in each and every case he is con- 
strained. The mastery of self is the first requisite to 
true liberty. 

But the mastery of self is not enough. Not only 
must we have the power to say to each individual appe- 
tite or passion, Hitherto shalt thou go, and no farther : 
we must also have the will to curb what is excessive, 
and to cherish and develope what is defective, and so to 
build up our being in moral symmetry, after the image 
of God. 

Nor are the power and the will enough. In order to 
guide us aright in all that we will and do, we must also 
have knowledge. But these three are enough. And 
thus knowledge, will, and power, prove to be the three 
stamina of liberty ; in other words, an enlightened rea- 
son, a ruling conscience, and energy of character, render 
freedom possible to a man ; and when to these we add 
the absence of such external restraints and impositions 
of mere human authority, as violate the rights of con- 
science thus enlightened and decided in favour of what 
is right ; so that he who can deliberate wisely, and choose 
calmly, and decide firmly, is not prevented by force 
from doing what he proposes ; but, on the contrary, is 
free to act as he judges for the best, — then there is the 
liberty which is worthy of the name, that liberty which 
is the calling of the sons of God. 

Of this liberty God is both the author and the finisher. 



80 



ON CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



He is its author ; for conscience is its asserter. Therefore 
it comes from God ; for of all that is within us, nothing 
is so much his own voice as conscience. Nor is this all 
the evidence we have that this liberty comes from God ; 
for all his gifts and revelations to man have ultimately 
had this for their object, " to grant to us (as it was 
expressed of the aged Zacharias, when filled with the 
Holy Ghost), that we being delivered out of the hand of 
our enemies, might serve him, without fear, in holiness 
and righteousness all the days of our life." * To emanci- 
pate us from the condemnation of the law, and from the 
law itself, as the terms of life and death, to set us free 
from our sins and our sinfulness, in a word, to quicken 
us, and to call us to the glorious liberty of the sons of 
God, was the chief end 'of the gospel, in so far as relates 
to us, 

Nor was it only at the birth of the Messiah that this 
purpose was heralded, — nor was it only after the incar- 
nation that it was realized. All the saints of God, since 
the world began, have eaten the same spiritual meat, — 
have drunk the same spiritual drink. Were we to re- 
view the history of the church from first to last, and com- 
pare it with that of false religions, — as, indeed, we pro- 
pose to do afterwards, though very briefly, — we should 
only establish the delightful discovery, that in the true 
religion there has always been allowed and enforced 
more true liberty than in any other religion, which has 
ever established itself in the world. If we find that the 
people of God were for a time put under the cloud, 
under a strict regimen of arbitrary laws, exactly writ- 
ten out, it was only because the law written on their 
hearts was so sadly obliterated, only because nothing 
else could so well resist "their lusting after evil things." 
Yet let it not be thought that these laws had bondage 

* Luke i. 74. 



TOLERATION. 



81 



for their object. It was far otherwise. God could not 
even bear that his people should be slaves. " I am Je- 
hovah your God," says He, " which brought you out of 
the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen ; 
and I have broken the bonds of your yoke, and made you 
to go upright."* This was the object of God with respect 
to the Israelites; and this is His calling to every man, 
" that he should go upright." 



TOLERATION. 

That a man may cease to be a bondman, and be free 
to " go upright," it is altogether necessary that the su- 
premacy of the individual conscience be fully recog- 
nised and admitted. And when a man pleads " con- 
science" as the authority whose voice he desires to obey, 
it is altogether necessary, both to the ends of justice and 
to the speedy coming of the kingdom of truth, that a full 
toleration be granted to that man, however far his convic- 
tions may vary from those which are current at the time, 
or from the standard which is referred to by others, as 
the standard of truth. If, indeed, his convictions be such 
as either to indicate insanity, or to threaten the well- 
being of society, restraints may and ought to be imposed 
on him who holds them. In that case, a man, as a mem- 
ber of society, may justly be required to abstain from 
doing what he would have a right to do, were he an in- 
dividual dwelling in solitude. Society can exist only by 
such compromises and concessions on the part of indivi- 
duals. And when an individual refuses to make the con- 
cessions which the well-being of society requires, nothing 
else can be done but to restrain him or banish him. In 
all other cases, however, all men are to be tolerated while 

* Levit. xx vi. 13. 



82 



TOLERATION. 



they do but hold what they conscientiously believe, and 
do but express what they feel conscientiously called upon 
to utter and maintain. 

While a full toleration is to be granted to the persons 
holding such opinions, however, there may justly be a 
full intolerance of the opinions themselves ; and the prin- 
ciple of toleration is well understood only when there is 
a full toleration for such intolerance. This may perhaps 
sound paradoxical, but yet there is no paradox in the 
statement. Intolerance must be tolerated. Wherever 
indeed there is true liberty in the mind, such as has been 
described in the preceding section, there cannot but be 
intolerance. Wherever there is a will bent upon truth, 
a knowledge of the worth of truth, and power or energy 
in the soul (which, as has already been shewn, are the 
elements of true liberty), there cannot but arise from the 
depths of that soul a hatred of falsehood, and an irresisti- 
ble demand to express that hatred. There cannot but be 
intolerance of the false. No doubt in an enlightened man, 
such hatred, such intolerance, will never be felt in reference 
to matters of mere speculation, of which the wrong side 
does not contradict any known law of God, whether set 
forth in nature or in his word,- — matters which either way 
are comparatively trivial in their bearings, both on faith or 
practice. But in reference to all matters of demonstra- 
tion, matters which the declarations of revelation, or the 
laws of reason settle, and which are of important moral 
or religious bearings, one of the strongest feelings of an 
energetic and enlightened spirit is intolerance of the 
error which seeks to rival and supplant the truth. Nor 
can any thing shew more truly that all virtue has gone 
out of the soul, than a state of indifference and equani- 
mity, when what is well known to be error is presenting 
itself to the soul's acceptance with the claims of truth, 
and asking the soul to reject the truth for its sake. 



TOLERATION. 



83 



Intolerance, therefore, is a feeling which both does 
exist and ought to exist. Not to speak, therefore, of 
the necessity of toleration for that which has been, is 
now, and ever shall be so long as man loves truth, if 
there ought to be toleration for every thing which ought 
to be, there ought to be toleration for intolerance. Nor 
is the principle of toleration more than half understood 
or carried out into practice, till this is granted and acted 
mpon. 

But let it never be forgotten, that the intolerance 
which has been vindicated, is mtolerence of that which 
is false only, or deemed to be so ; and that the expres- 
sions of intolerance, for which it has been maintained 
that there ought to be a complete toleration, are expres- 
sions directed against things not against persons, against 
errors either real or supposed, not against the persons or 
parties who hold these errors believing them to be truths. 
Such persons have a right to a full toleration, not indeed 
because they hold errors, but because they hold what 
they conscientiously believe to be true. To tolerate 
persons thus holding errors for truths, is not to do ho- 
mage to error ; it is only to refuse to make exceptions to 
the principle that conscience is always entitled to honour 
and regard,— -the only principle that can ever secure the 
moral peace of society or hasten the spread of truth. 

That the dictates of conscience should in all cases 
whatever be equally deferred to, and no intolerance ex- 
ercised towards any individual when he is obeying the 
commands of his conscience, appears to be a matter of uni- 
versal right. For if two men are equally sincerely and 
disinterestedly convinced of the truth, each of his own 
views, they are surely on the same moral level, and have 
the same rights to be tolerated. If one of them hold 
views which are true, the other, views which are errone- 
ous, then the former is indeed on a higher intellectual 



84 



TOLERATION. 



level than the latter, and possibly enough his higher in- 
telligence urging his moral feelings, may compel him to 
feel altogether intolerant of the views of the other, and 
urge him to express that intolerance with all the energy 
which deep conviction and impassioned eloquence may 
command. And in all this there is nothing wrong. 
It is only when we change our subject, when we leave 
the errors which we detest, and direct our attacks and 
vent our hatred on our unhappy fellow-creatures, who* 
hold these errors, and whom we ever ought to love, — it 
is only then that we violate the principle of toleration. 
But then we do violate that principle, we sin, and do 
mischief. 

We are intolerant in that case ; for the principle of to- 
leration is, that all who are sincerely convinced of the 
truth of what they hold, be at liberty to hold unmolested 
what they believe ; and when they feel called upon, to 
maintain their views in such terms as those who differ 
from them, hold and maintain theirs. No doubt this 
principle, like every other general principle, has and 
ever must have its just limitations. Other general prin- 
ciples of paramount authority lie around it, and what is 
right to be done in any given case, can only be learned 
by co-ordinating all these general principles, and assign- 
ing to each its due share in giving a form to the action 
contemplated. It is another general principle, for in- 
stance, that a government must ever consult to the best 
of its ability for the well-being of the governed. And 
this general principle cannot but limit that of toleration, 
as the latter in like manner limits the principle of govern- 
ment. Thus it is plainly necessary for the well-being of 
society, that restraints be put on those who disturb its 
peace and security, who hold and would disseminate se- 
ditious or demoralizing principles. Nay, though persons 
holding such principles should be ready to swear that 



TOLERATION. 



85 



they entertain them as their most sincere convictions, 
that were no sufficient reason why government should not 
restrain and even punish them, if not for holding, yet for 
propagating them ; because, by so doing, they wilfully, 
if not intentionally, disturb and injure society, and vio- 
late that understanding on which society exists. Such 
outrages must be prevented ; and so long as the necessity 
exists, and other means remain undiscovered, restraint 
and punishment must and ought to be resorted to. 

But in reference to views not attacking the well-being 
of society, and not owning consequences, which may be 
said, by those of the other side, to injure society, the prin- 
ciple of toleration demands an equal freedom of expres- 
sion to all men who conscientiously believe what they 
desire to maintain ; and every man violates this great 
principle who tries forcibly or passionately to put down 
the man who differs from him. But as the principle of 
toleration is only the principle of justice applied to a par- 
ticular case, the man who violates the former, violates at 
the same time the latter, and therefore sins, as has been 
said. If one man were responsible for the opinions of 
another, though he had in no degree contributed to form 
or maintain them, the case would be different ; at least it 
would be of far more difficult discussion. But as there 
is no such vicarious responsibility on the head of man, 
one man is not called upon to interfere with the sincere 
opinions of another in any forcible manner, or, indeed, 
any how against the consent of that other. Nay, not 
only is he not called upon so to interfere, he acts cruelly 
and unjustly when he does so. For, as the responsibility 
of the opinions in question rests on the head of him who 
holds them (or of those who have led him into the belief 
of them), it is plainly necessary, in order that this respon- 
sibility be rightly acquitted, that no restraint, no force, 
be applied. To act towards a responsible being in such 



86 



TOLERATION. 



a manner, is to take from him rights which his Maker 
has given him, and to the free exercise of which his God 
has called him now, and for which He is to call him to 
account hereafter. 

How, then, it may be asked, are we to regulate our 
conduct as to this matter ? How are we to discover what 
is just in any particular case ? To this, it is to be an- 
swered, that if in any thing the golden rule can be 
applied, or ought to be applied, or cannot be violated 
without sin, it is in reference to differences of opinion. 
We ought never to do to any one aught that we are not 
ready to grant that he on his side has a right to do to us. 
If we do not, in such a case, as we would that others should 
do unto us, we violate, in reference to them, what we 
claim as right for ourselves. Since, on their side, how- 
ever, there are the same rights as on ours, we act unjust- 
ly towards others when we act in a manner which we 
should feel to be intolerant if done to ourselves. 

No doubt the question of right is often obscure and dif- 
ficultly resolvable. But if there be such a thing as right 
in the world, certainly a man has a right to hold what 
he cannot but believe, and to maintain that belief when 
it is assailed. Even though we possessed the attribute of 
infallibility, it would not cease to be unjust to act into- 
lerantly towards those who differed from us, unless in- 
deed they admitted our infallibility, in which case they 
might be justly convicted of insanity, since to believe us 
infallible, and yet to differ from us, were to believe us to 
be both right and wrong at the same time, which is the 
part of a madman only. No doubt in the case of our in- 
fallibility, we could assure ourselves that he who differed 
from us was unquestionably in the wrong ; but still this 
assurance contains no warrant for forcibly entering the 
house of another, or for assaulting him. Except, indeed, 
in so far as infallibility, more than fallibility, would sup- 



TOLERATION. 



87 



ply finer reasons with which to ply affectionately the 
understanding and conscience of the erring, it were good 
for nothing as a means for spreading the truth. Nay, if it 
extended only to points of speculation, and not to conduct 
too, it were a heavy curse. As to the church, nothing 
could retard the development of true Christianity in it 
more, than just a dogmatic infallibility if it possessed it ; 
and nothing could go so far from this day henceforth to 
fill the blessed ranks of the Redeemer with devoted dis- 
ciples, united as brethren to obey his voice, and imitate 
his example, as the deep conviction and continual remem- 
brance of human fallibility in every church, and in every 
breast. The aspect of holiness, which the most dreadful 
of crimes may assume, when once the idea of infallibility 
possesses the mind, is most seducing. It is so ably set 
forth in the seventh section of the work entitled Spiri- 
tual Despotism, by the author of the Natural History of 
Enthusiasm, that I cannot refrain from referring the 
reader to it, especially as it shews at the same time so 
beautifully, yet so condemningly, the claims of popery. 

On whatever plea, however, whether that of infallibility 
or any other, persecution is practised, its inhumanity and 
injustice are very distinctly taught by its effects. The 
Church of Rome had recourse to it in order to perpetuate 
what it regarded as important truth, and to exterminate 
what it regarded as errors. But did the scheme succeed? 
No. As the voice of humanity had already become too 
strong for the empire, so did it in its own time become 
too strong for the Church of Rome. It happened then, 
as it always does, that persecution perpetuates the errors, 
whether real or supposed, which it labours by cruelty to 
exterminate. None but the base abandon their sincere 
convictions, because they are threatened with persecu- 
tion for holding them. The weak may fall away, or 
keep silence, and the cunning may learn to persuade 



88 



TOLERATION 



themselves that they were wrong before, and thus may 
change when persecution comes. But what of that ? 
Meantime all the strong are assuming the attitude of 
heroes, and their ranks purged by the fear of persecution, 
to a pure condition, cannot be moved but by the succes- 
sive martyrdom of the whole host. But the martyrdom 
even of one, makes more converts to his opinions in the 
coming age, than all the claims to infallibility, and all 
the zeal and power which led thousands to the stake. 
Almost any opinion gains ground when those who hold 
it are persecuted But when the Gospel of Jesus Christ 
is preached by martyrdom, its progress appears to be 
wholly irresistible. Never does any church wander far- 
ther from the truth as it is in Jesus, than when it be- 
comes the persecutor. Strange that the disciples of 
Jesus, who, when he was reviled, reviled not again ; when 
he suffered, threatened not, but committed himself to 
him who judgeth righteously* — strange that the fol- 
lowers of the primitive Christians, of whom the leader 
said, " being reviled, we bless, being persecuted, we suf- 
fer it, being defamed, we entreat," should feel called 
upon, or even safe in acting the intolerant, and in reta- 
liating intolerance. But as it was in the ear of Eve, 
when the devil was whispering that she should be as a 
God, so has it ever been since, with all but the few. Each 
ever tends to esteem himself better than another, and in 
religion, to deem himself infallible. And in the very pro- 
portion that this state of feeling has existed, have the 
course of the Gospel and the glory of God been hindered, 
error perpetuated, and heart-burnings and heart-render- 
ings filled the breasts, where the peace of God should 
have dwelt. 

There is no possibility of uprooting from a man's mind 
the conviction that he ought to believe what his reason 
* 1 Peter ii. 23. 



TOLERATION. 



89 



and conscience urge upon him as the truth. Every man 
feels, that if there be such a thing as a right to posses- 
sion at all, and especially, if a few words written on parch- 
ment, can give a right to the possession of houses and 
lands, much more must conviction in the conscience con- 
fer the right of holding what dwells there as the truth. 
Of all conceivable rights, the strongest is that by which 
a man is entitled to hold and possess what he believes in 
his conscience to be true. And it is a most beautiful 
feature in our moral constitution, that it should be so. 
It is the most instructive lesson that truth is deserving 
of the highest honours, and is entitled to all the support 
and defence which man can give it. When the thing be- 
lieved is the truth, it is universally admitted that the re- 
sult is admirable. Are we then to violate this the noblest 
feature in our being, and to put down conscience from 
her rightful supremacy, because it unavoidably happens 
that she is liable not only to maintain truth, but also errors 
for truth ? We have no authority to do so, though it were 
expedient. Conscience is the mistress of the inner man, 
the queen of the soul, and to rise up against her is to be 
guilty of rebellion, is to attempt to frame within our 
breasts another constitution than that which God has 
given us. It is, in point of fact, to attempt the impossi- 
ble. Conscience, however she may be forced and mal- 
treated, continues to testify still. The selfish principle 
threatened by suffering, may confess and abjure, and 
smooth it all over; but conscience, all the while, never 
ceases to remonstrate. Conscience, in so far as she is 
herself, is altogether untractable. She yields only to 
truth, or what is passed off upon her as truth. 

But since, in consequence of this heroism in the con- 
stitution of conscience, error, when believed as truth, is 
very undesirably honoured, it comes to be a great and most 
important inquiry, how may such error be uprooted and 

H 



90 



TOLERATION. 



replaced by truth ? But surely the answer is not difficult ; 
for since conscience is but the moral impulse of approval 
or disapproval, which accompanies the discoursing of 
reason when occupied about good and evil, it is plain 
that conscience can be influenced, not otherwise than by 
addressing influentially the reason, which, under some 
moral or intellectual misapprehension, is holding error 
for truth. And how can reason be addressed influen- 
tially ? Plainly, not otherwise than by addressing it logi- 
cally or persuasively. In what way then, are we at liberty 
as Christian men, or how can we as men of good sense, 
influence the convictions of others in favour of truth ? 
Plainly, not otherwise than " by manifestation of the 
truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience 
in the sight of God." * 

Persecution, how unchristian ! It is a first principle of 
Christianity, that, before we can please God, there must 
be faith in the heart. But it is obvious, that there can be 
no true faith in any thing, until we are thoroughly per- 
* suaded of that thing in our own mind. Persuasion, there- 
fore, is manifestly the only means of christianizing men. 
Intolerance of those who hold errors which they consci- 
entiously believe to be truths, persecution, even though 
carried so far and upon such weak hearts, that it produced 
in the outward demeanour the semblance of acquiescence 
in the truth, could still do nothing for the cause of Christ. 
A forced uniformity of outward expressions were all that 
it could command, even under the most favourable cir- 
cumstances. And even to gain such worthless unifor- 
mity, true religion must vanish in the duplicate propor- 
tion ; for wherever there is successful persecution, there 
must be cruelty on the side of the persecutor, and a base 
abandonment of conviction on the side of the persecuted, 
results wholly unchristian, both of them. 

* 2 Cor. iv. 2. 



TOLERATION. 



91 



Intolerance and persecution always bring down the 
judgments of God on those who indulge in them. How 
praiseworthy and devout soever men may be in other re- 
spects, yet, if they be intolerant and persecutors, it only 
needs time for the development of their crime, to shew 
that God's judgments come either on themselves or on 
their children. 

But though it be so unjust and unreasonable, so preg- 
nant with evils and judgments, intolerance has still many 
secret advocates, neither unjust nor unreasonable men, 
and who, far from being of a cruel temper, are desirous 
only of this, that the gospel of peace may have free course 
and be glorified. Only on the subject of persecution, 
their belief continues still to be that of the papacy. They 
want error away ; and so they think to put it down by 
force, and by annexing pains and penalties to the enter- 
tainment of it. Not that they would consent (as the pa- 
pacy did) to the principle that it is lawful to do evil that 
good may come. They view the sufferings which they 
purpose to bring on those who are in error, as punish- 
ments which the erring deserve. They only omit to in- 
quire whether they have a right to usurp the place of 
God ; and, in the face of the remonstrances of a man's 
conscience, which is the voice of God to him, to inflict 
punishments on him for the uncontrollable utterance of 
that voice. This is indeed very wrong. But, at the 
same time, persecuting spirits are often to be charged ra- 
ther with certain moral blunders, and intellectual falla- 
cies, than with any thing that could be called wickedness. 
There are especially two fallacies, which, could they be 
but uprooted from their convictions, they would cease to 
persecute. Of these, the one is the supposing that the 
truth may be spread by the persecution of those who are 
in error ; and the other is a want of faith in the power of 
truth, a want of conviction of the fact, that the truth, if 



92 



TOLERATION. 



only fair play were given it by the principle of toleration 
being fully carried out, would spread faster in the hearts 
of men than in any other conceivable way. 

Now, on the former of these fallacies, let what has 
been said already suffice ; but let us here contemplate for 
a moment what the result would be as to the spread of 
the truth, if only every sincere man could assure him- 
self, as the privilege and honour due to his conscientious 
convictions, of a benignant toleration from the friends of 
the truth. What, let me ask, would be the effect of 
such treatment. Would there not immediately, on his 
experiencing it, arise in the breast of him who was so 
treated, a prepossession in favour of those opinions which 
rendered so honourable in his eyes the conduct of those 
who professed to be actuated by them. This result may 
be confidently expected from the responsive character of 
human nature. Nor let this be called an attempt to 
spread the truth by flattering those who are in error. 
There is no flattery in the case. There is nothing more 
or less than justice. Those who hold error for truth, 
have the common rights of men as well as those who 
commit no mistake in the matter. And it is but just that 
their rights should be respected. And this will ever 
be so inveterately their claim, that they will never take 
any thing well from the man who begins his message to 
them by disregarding their rights ; nay, they will not 
give him credit for any kind intention. Let him be just 
before he be generous will be the universal voice of all 
who are treated with intolerance by one who professes 
to seek their well-being. A strange way this (they will 
say) to gain us to your opinions, or to commend your 
opinions to us by trampling on our rights in the first 
place ! If you love us as you pretend, and desire to turn 
us from what you conceive to be the error of our ways, 
shew that you respect us. Respect our rights, and then 



UNITY AND UNIFORMITY. 



93 



we will possibly listen to you ; but not till then. Such 
is the language of the heart of man ; and so long as a 
man can command the use of his own ears, and close 
them when he pleases, it is all in vain to contend against 
such a remonstrance, coming as it does from the very 
depths of humanity. And thus to be intolerant and to 
persecute, or to do other than respect to the full the rights 
of those who are in error, is the direct way to make them 
blind and deaf to the truth, and to place ourselves as 
stumbling blocks in the way of its propagation. To meet 
the erring in the opposite spirit, on the contrary, is to gain 
their good will at once, and to open their hearts, so far as 
preliminary address can do so, to the reception of the truth. 

And this is the only manner of address of which our 
Saviour and the apostles afford us examples — the apostles 
at least after they were enlightened in the nature of true 
religion, and of the tidings of peace on earth which Jesus 
brought. In the early days of their deep but dark de- 
votedness, two of them did indeed ask leave to call down 
fire to consume the unkind and heretical Samaritans, but 
our Saviour answered, " Ye know not what manner of 
spirit ye are of, for the Son of man is not come to destroy 
men's lives, but to save them."* And this, the spirit of 
Christ, they learned more and more fully to breathe, the 
longer they served in the cause of God on earth. And so 
will every man who loves the Lord Jesus Christ, and seeks 
the salvation of those who are perishing around him. 

UNITY AND UNIFORMITY. 

And now, having4hus cleared our way, and laid down 
these principles, let us make a step towards the details of 
our inquiry. 

It follows, from what has been already said, that the 

* Luke, ix. 55. 



94 



UNITY AND UNIFORMITY. 



word of God, interpreted by reason and conscience as- 
sisted by divine grace, remains in the entire possession 
of the field, as the only rule of faith, and the supreme 
authority in every question touching revealed religion. 
In attempting to discover, therefore, what God has re- 
vealed as to the unity or uniformity of the church, let us 
first attend to the law and to the testimony. " He who 
speaketh not according to this word, it is because there is 
no light in him."* 

Now, if, in pursuit of this object, we open the Bible 
even in a few places only, we shall do enough to discover 
that the word of God emphatically teaches and commends 
a true unity among all Christians. It represents all as 
one flock, under one shepherd ;-f* all as fellow-citizens 
with the saints, and of the household of God, and built 
upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus 
Christ himself being the chief corner stone, in whom 
all are builded together for a habitation of God through 
the spirit.^ It represents all as members in the same 
body,§ branches in the same vine ;jj in a word, the Bible 
every where, and in every variety of speech, teaches and 
inculcates the unity of the church. 

And while the people of God are thus described as 
one, and the church as an united body, a house built upon 
a rock, against which the gates of hell shall never prevail, ^[ 
means have also been divinely provided for accomplish- 
ing the end which has been ordained. Thus love, that 
heavenly principle of union, is exalted in the New Testa- 
ment, so as to be given as the very criterion of Christian 
discipleship. " By this," says our Saviour, " shall all 
men know that ye are my disciples, , if ye have love one 
towards another."** Thus a bond of unity is given to the 

* Isaiah, viii. 20. f John, x. 16. t Eph. ii. 19. 

§ Eph. Col. passim. || JoIid, xv. 1. H Matt. xvi. 18. 

** John, xiii. 35. 



UNITY AND UNIFORMITY. 



95 



affections. Nor is it given to them only, but to the in- 
tellect too. For there are given unto all, " one Lord, one 
faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all."* Nor 
is this the whole that has been done to secure the unity 
of the church. It might, indeed, have been thought that 
our affections and intellect being thus supplied with the 
materials of unity, the unity of the church might have 
been intrusted to these principles. But it is not so. Chris- 
tian unity appears to be a matter of too much importance 
in the eye of God to be intrusted to mere man. Our 
heavenly Father has put it on another footing altogether. 
Instead of leaving it to the play of our mutable reason 
and affections, he has himself instituted an unity in the 
church, which is at once spiritual and indefeasible. He 
has made every true believer, and consequently every 
true member of the church, to depend for his very faith, 
and, consequently, for true membership, on union with 
himself. He has organized the church, so that every 
member shall meet in himself, as buds and branches meet 
in the vine. He has instituted a true unity in the church, 
which no man can destroy. A man may indeed cut him- 
self off ; but the body remains unharmed by him. A man, 
by indulging in a schismatic temper, may greatly injure 
his spiritual health and life, and may so separate and di- 
vide the visible bonds of the church, that it may seem to 
be really divided. But though one may say " I am not 
of the body," and another, " I have no need of you," the 
church is not necessarily divided notwithstanding. If 
the foot shall say, because I am not the hand, I am not 
of the body ; is it therefore not of the body ? Man, who 
looketh only on the outward appearance, often arrives at 
different conclusions from what he would do, if he could 
look to the heart. The truth is often one at heart, where 
it seems divided on the surface. 

* Eph. iv. 6. 



96 



UNITY AND UNIFORMITY, 



Nor is it by his spirit only, generating Christian graces 
in all his people, that the Saviour has made the church one. 
By shedding his own blood for the sins of all, and sprink- 
ling and purifying the souls of all therewith, He has made 
all Christians to be in a manner of one blood. In short, 
the unity of the church is a fact which God has firmly fixed, 
and a doctrine which the Bible leaves no room to doubt. 
But let us not enter more minutely on this subject here, 
for here we should require to give as mere assertions, 
what will follow as easy demonstrations afterwards. 

But here let us not fail to request the reader to re- 
mark, that where mind is concerned as well as matter, 
and especially where it constitutes the greater and the 
better part, as in the church, there is a strong necessity 
for marking well the difference between unity and uni- 
formity. There is a wide difference between the import 
of the two terms. Uniformity, in fact, is a word, which, 
viewed in relation to its strict signification, cannot be 
applied with propriety to mind at all. In strict propriety, 
uniformity is a term which can only be applied to things 
visible, or at least extended ; for uniformity plainly 
means oneness or sameness in form. But it is extended 
objects only that truly possess form. Such objects, 
therefore, are alone capable of having oneness or same- 
ness of form predicated of them. 

Unity, on the other hand, is a term so peculiarly ap- 
propriate to mind, that, however great the variety of the 
gifts and graces of any individual mind, it still possesses, 
and ever must possess, a true and indefeasible unity in 
the midst of all. This fact, then, that in things spiritual 
there may be a true unity, where there is a variety of 
gifts and manifestations, makes it incumbent on the in- 
telligent inquirer into the truth revealed as to the unity 
of the church, to observe attentively whether the descrip- 
tions and illustrations which accompany the doctrines of 



UNITY AND UNIFORMITY. 



97 



Christian unity, as set forth in the word of God, convey 
the idea of an absolute unity or uniformity 'all over, or 
rather of an unity in variety, such as the individual 
mind itself possesses. 

Nor is it enough to observe attentively the language 
of scripture. In order to a just interpretation of it in 
reference to this particular question, it is necessary that 
the reader be on his guard against a strong prepossession 
in favour of uniformity, which, in consequence of both a 
bad habit, and an original peculiarity in the human mind, 
is almost sure to actuate him. So strong, indeed, is this pre- 
possession in favour of an universal uniformity in religion, 
that were almost anyone asked his idea, as to the true unity 
of the church, and as to what ought to be done in order 
to promote it, not only would he say that he conceived, 
that, in order to true unity, all churches must resemble 
each other in ritual, creed, discipline, polity, in a word, 
every particular ; but that, if the unity of the church is our 
object, our endeavours ought all to be directed towards 
reducing all variations, and establishing an universal uni- 
formity over all. Such would, I believe, be the answer 
very generally given to the questions, what is true Chris- 
tian unity ? and what ought to be done in order to pro- 
mote it ? But however prevalent such a notion may be, 
is there not room for supposing, that, even granting an 
universal uniformity to be the beau-ideal of Christian 
unity, and the limit to be looked to, still, it will best be 
arrived at, and most surely attained in the end, by culti- 
vating and cherishing now that unity of a more spiritual 
kind, which is possible, and which, in fact, necessarily ex- 
ists already, wherever there are the graces of the Spirit ? 
However beautiful an universal uniformity would be — 
however suitable for the church when the time for it 
comes, yet if, as has been already stated, and as will ap- 
pear more fully hereafter, the bond of unity in the church 

i 



98 



THE SUBSTITUTION. 



be truly of a spiritual and hidden nature, such uniformity, 
however perfectly established over all, never could form 
the true bond of union among Christians, never could 
constitute the essence of Christian unity. Meantime, in 
a variety of forms and manifestations, such as now exist 
among evangelical churches, were they all but knit toge- 
ther, so as to preserve the unity of the spirit in the bonds 
of peace, would there not be an unity of a high order, an 
unity eminently spiritual, and in harmony with the eco- 
nomy of the gospel, and in many respects fit and com- 
mendable in relation to the present age of the world, 
which displays great variety every where ? Each church 
being permitted to use, without reproach or interference, 
its own unimportant variations, and the whole church 
dwelling together in love, would not the points on which 
all agree be brought into greater prominence ? And since 
these points are the essentials of salvation, — the doctrine 
of man's lost state by nature, his redemption by Christ, 
and his regeneration by the Holy Spirit, — would not the 
fixing the attention of Christians more upon these, tend 
eminently to the progress of vital religion ? And while 
Christians contemplated the points wherein they agreed 
rather than those wherein they differed, and found that, 
notwithstanding a difference of denomination, they were 
already at one about all that is most important, would not 
this tend greatly to further agreement ? Might we not 
expect to find all good Christians, in these circumstances, 
willingly permitting denominational distinctions to pass 
into oblivion ? In a word, might we not reasonably hope 
to attain an universal uniformity in this way far sooner 
than by legislation, or force, or polemics of any kind ? 

THE SUBSTITUTION. 

As has been said, however, there is, in the breasts of 
almost all Christians, an impatient demand for uniformity, 



THE SUBSTITUTION. 



99 



and a constant tendency to substitute this idea for that 
of unity in reference to the church. It has also been said, 
that this is due to a bad habit in the mind, and now is 
the time for saying a few words on this subject ; for it 
will be a pity if the reader enter on an examination of 
Scripture, prepossessed in favour of uniformity, and ever 
tending to regard it as one and the same thing with 
unity ; while yet, in point of fact, there is a marked dif- 
ference between the two things, and his prepossession the 
fruit of a feeling, which a few words here may make 
plain, and put him on his guard against. Let us there- 
fore devote a few words to the subject of this substitution 
here ; and let the reader bear with me if my remarks ap- 
pear a little metaphysical, for it is not possible to exa- 
jnine the processes, and detect the fallacies of the human 
mind, otherwise than by looking into it. And why 
should we not look into it ? There is nothing more to 
be regretted in our country at the present moment than 
the exclusive taste of the public for physics, and its im- 
patience under any thing relating to the philosophy of 
mind. But to the point. 

The substitution of the idea of uniformity for that of 
unity is extremely natural. Thus, when any truth is pro- 
posed to the mind, we commonly open first the imagina- 
tion to it, and try to entertain it there. In a word, we 
try to imagine it. But this we cannot do, unless it be an 
object which has a form, and, consequently, admits of an 
image ; for the imagination is conversant only about form- 
possessing objects, or rather their images. Those objects, 
therefore, which are truly formless, cannot be entertained 
in the imagination. But all purely spiritual objects are of 
this kind. Such objects, for instance, as goodness, 
mercy, truth, eternity, power, God, have no forms, and 
therefore they cannot be entertained in the imagination. 
Merely to open the imagination to such objects, therefore, 



100 



THE SUBSTITUTION. 



is to give tliem a bad reception. It is to offer them as 
invitation which they cannot accept. 

What then, it may be asked, is to be done with such 
objects when they are presented to the mind ? To this 
it is to be answered, that they ought to be immediately 
conducted to the inner audience chambers of reason and 
conscience. There a formal dress is not required in order 
to their being well received. Nay, the very want of it, 
the very formlessness of an object invests it in the eyes 
of reason and conscience with a peculiar charm ; for these 
truly noble ministers of the soul are ever seeking con- 
verse with the infinite ; and of the infinite, formlessness is 
peculiarly the characteristic ; and, therefore, all that is 
formless, as allied to the infinite, is congenial and dear 
to them. 

The formlessness of an object, therefore, though against 
it as an element for poetry, which addresses the imagina- 
tion, and dwells in the region of taste and sense, is alto- 
gether in its favour as an element for pure and spiritual 
religion. For pure and spiritual religion addresses the 
reason and conscience, and dwells in the region of the 
devotional and the sublime, rather than that of the sim- 
ply beautiful and the finite. Such is the state of the 
case. But though it were, doubtless, much to be desired, 
that reason and conscience, and pure and spiritual reli- 
gion, were every where supreme, yet in this world of ours 
it has always been, and is now, far otherwise. The mind 
of the mass is little more than mere imagination ; what 
they cannot figure to themselves, they cannot either feel 
or believe — so low does intellect fall when left to the 
dominion of ignorance. Hence, every object of the spi- 
ritual world proposed for man's acceptance and contem- 
plation, tends, when entertained in his carnal mind, to be 
reduced to a figure. And the religion of all mankind 
(except those who have been kept in some measure spiri- 



THE SUBSTITUTION. 



101 



tual by the peculiar power of God) has ever degenerated 
in all ages and nations into image-worship and idolatry. 
Nor, indeed, has even the true church been free from this 
fault in any commendable degree. On the contrary, in 
the church, as in the world, imagination has ever tended 
to supersede reason and conscience, and to usurp the 
supremacy of the mind. The visible church, just like 
the heathen, instead of piercing to the spirit and the 
truth of the matter, has even tended to rest in symbols ; 
instead of sustaining the adoration of the invisible God, 
has even tended to degenerate into image-worship and 
idolatry. Of this melancholy fact, history supplies con- 
tinually renewed illustrations. Thus, though Moses di- 
vinely guided, suited his instructions to the impression 
which Egypt had made on the posterity of Abraham, and 
to the intellectual and moral infancy into which long 
years of abject slavery among idolaters had plunged them ; 
though he gave them a ritual beautifully calculated to 
engage in the worship of the true God, their imagination, 
as well as what reason and conscience they had ; and 
though he forbade with peculiar emphasis all divination, 
and the making and worshipping of images, still the people 
fell again and again into idolatry, and went about con- 
sulting those who had familiar spirits I And though our 
Saviour and the apostles, addressing the church in an after 
age, when it had arrived at manhood, called upon all true 
worshippers to part henceforth with a symbolic ritual, 
" which stood only in meats and drinks and diverse 
washings and carnal ordinances imposed on them till the 
time of reformation, and was intended only as a neces- 
sary bondage under the elements of the world" for those 
" who were as yet only children" and " heirs under 
age ;" and though, instead thereof, he required them to 
practise and enjoy the direct worship of the God who is 
a spirit in spirit and in truth, still the church obeyed its 



102 



THE PREPOSSESSION. 



calling for a few years only. The simplicity and spiri- 
tuality of primitive Christianity was soon lost. The 
simple worship, the prayer, the discourse, the psalm, the 
hymn were soon buried in a mass of gorgeous symbolism, 
partly borrowed from the old dispensation, partly from 
the surrounding idolatry ; and, strange to say, this is the 
state of things which predominates in Christendom even 
to the present day. 

Such is the inveterate determination of the human 
mind towards substituting the material for the mental, 
the carnal for the spiritual, the visible for the invisible, 
the form for the power. In reference to the point to be 
proved then, are we not to expect generally that men, 
conscious that there ought to be unity in the church, 
should ever tend to substitute an outward unity instead 
of an inner unity, an unity of forms instead of an unity 
in power, in one word, uniformity instead of unity in 
spirit. 

THE PREPOSSESSION. 

But while this general tendency to materialize every 
thing accounts for the substitution of the idea of unifor- 
mity instead of unity, another feature in our intellectual 
constitution also prompts to that prepossession in favour 
of an universal uniformity, which we are now inquiring 
into. Not only after having learned that there ought to 
be unity, do we naturally substitute the uniform for the 
united, but there is, in our intellectual constitution, 
a principle which engages us in the love of the uniform, 
and prompts us to desire it, previously to all inqui- 
ry whether it ought to be or not. The long neglected, 
but much to be admired Vico, gives it as one of the 
axioms of the philosophy of history, that the human 



THE PREPOSSESSION. 



103 



mind naturally loves the uniform. And no wonder that 
universal history exemplifies this truth. In fact, the love 
of the uniform springs from the very form, or rather 
forms the very spring, of our intellectual constitution. 
For uniformity is order ; the love of uniformity is the 
love of order ; and there is no principle in the human 
mind so strong, as the love of order. At first, perhaps, 
the reader may not admit this, feeling, as every one must, 
that, of all the creatures of God, man is the most disor- 
derly. But the love of order is one thing ; the realization 
of it is another. And notwithstanding man's being so 
disorderly, yet his intellectual love of order is extreme. 
This is certain, and is easily proved. 

A love of order presides over all our mental processes, 
and determines all our intellectual proceedings. Thus, 
when any thing is placed before our minds which we do 
not understand, what urges us to understand it, but, on 
the one hand, the pain we feel in having to look upon that 
which appears to us at present to be disorder, and, on the 
other, the pleasure we anticipate when the disorder shall 
vanish from it \ And that delightful moment when light 
arises, and the inquirer can say, " Now I understand it," 
what has he discovered in it \ Order ; and nothing else. 
And the pleasure he enjoys at the moment of discovery, 
and for some time after, whence does it arise ? Simply 
from this, that the mind, hitherto impeded in its activity 
by the confusion which obstructed it, begins now, on 
the moment of the discovery of order, to develope itself, 
arranging and adjusting, as it expands, all its ideas, in 
harmony with the order it has discovered. All pain is 
caused by disorder. And all such happiness as is wholly 
pure and disinterested, consists either in the development 
of order out of confusion, or in the discovery or contem- 
plation of order pre-existing. And this is one of the 
many features in the frame of the human mind, which 



104 



THE PREPOSSESSION. 



points so significantly to its divine original, and its high 
calling. For the mind of God is infinite order. He is 
the fountain of all order in his creatures ; and all sin is 
but disorder. Our inherent love of order, therefore, is 
one of our noblest intellectual powers. 

But it is true of all these powers, that, at present, they 
work but badly, in consequence of the defective and dis- 
ordered state of our moral principles. And this same 
love of order, so noble, so divine in its origin and in its 
intellectual functions, is, in actual life, but too apt to in- 
crease the disorder which it hates and is trying to do 
away. This unhappy result arises from the fact, that 
this love of order often comes into play, neither in its 
intellectual purity, nor associated, as it ever ought to be, 
with a love of its obj ect, but only as a sturdy demand for 
order, associated with an overbearing self-love. Both in 
the church and in the world, this unhappy state of things 
is constantly occurring. In fact, every language bears 
an impress of the melancholy truth. For, when we say 
that any one was ordered to do such or such a thing, do 
we not mean the same as if we said that he was com- 
manded. It is this tendency to connect order with force, 
which is the ruin of unity in many a sphere, and most of 
all in the Church of Christ. Thus it is, that a man, be- 
cause he is convinced on his own part, that his own creed, 
ritual, and church polity are of God, tends to insist upon 
it as essential to order, that all others should agree with 
him, tends to look upon all who continue to differ from 
him as contumacious, and required to be excommunicated 
or parted from, according as the power lies with him or 
them. The higher esteem and love which he has for 
himself than for others, induce him at once to arrogate 
to himself the right to judge other men's consciences, 
and to give a judgment against them. But the judg- 
ment given being resisted, this same self-esteem is natu- 



THE PREPOSSESSION. 



105 



rally wounded, and, since love for the objects who thus 
vex him, and disorder his feelings, does not restrain him 
(there being little or no love in the case), he naturally 
tends to gratify his injured sensibilities, by proceeding 
against those who refuse to adopt his views or commands, 
in hard words or deeds, according as his power extends. 

But, meantime, where, it may be asked, are reason and 
conscience ? This is a most interesting question, for here 
is the strange answer. Reason and conscience, mean- 
while testifying (as they ever inherently and unavoid- 
ably must), in favour of order, make their appearance on 
this occasion by the side of the injured feelings ; and par- 
ticipating in the excitement and disorder of the mind, as, 
in virtue of its unity, all its powers must when any one 
is troubled, they are easily engaged so, as it were, to con- 
secrate the injured feelings, being deceived into the belief 
at the same time, that they are only testifying in favour 
of order. And thus it comes to pass, that the man in 
whom the love of order is strongest, if only he be defec- 
tive in the elements of humility, or of brotherly love, is 
apt to become the most violent persecutor, the most de- 
termined schismatic ; — such havoc of our moral nature 
do even the best principles make when love is wanting. 
And, as men of this stamp are not confined to any one 
church, or any one sect, but are too common everywhere, 
and over all, there thus tends to be generated on all hands, 
and not out of the worst elements neither, a spirit of 
schism and intolerance ; and thus on the plea and spring 
of a sincere love of order, the greatest conceivable dis- 
order is apt to result. Nor this only in the church. 
From a similar state of things, a parent or a prince, ani- 
mated by no worse principle than a love of order operat- 
ing too sharply for the love he has for his children or his 
subjects, often builds himself up into a tyrant, and his 
family or kingdom is constituted according to the prin- 



106 



THE PREPOSSESSION. 



ciple of the love of order, instead of the order of love as it 
ought.* But if the love of order be so strong in our na- 
ture as to permit men to think that they are justified, 
when destroying all unity in the church, all affection in 
the family, all liberty in the state, need we wonder if it 
operate in Christians generally, so as to lead them to de- 
sire that there should be in religion universally the ex- 
treme of order* in other words, a perfect resemblance in 
all creeds, in all rituals, in all churches, in one word, an 
universal uniformity? 

Such a prepossession in favour of uniformity, is only 
to be expected, even though there were no other circum- 
stances calculated to foster the prepossession. But there 
are. Our inheritance conspires with the original frame 
of our mind to favour the claim. For, previously to the 
Reformation, the church, directing all its zeal towards 
externals, insisted upon uniformity to the last degree, 
and valued itself exceeding (as the Church of Rome still 
does), on what small success it had in establishing it. And, 
indeed, its uniformity was the best feature which the 
church then displayed. For since, in the popular mind 
in those days, all was ignorance of religion, and conse- 
quently, a spiritual unity impossible ; better an unity in 
externals, than no unity at all. But, in these circum- 
stances, it was only to be expected that the first reform- 
ers, as they were educated in the church of Rome, would 
naturally cling to the idea of uniformity, the only good 
feature in the church they had left ; and so would carry 
their demand for it into the reformed church along with 
them. But if a demand for uniformity prevailed then, 
it may be expected to prevail now. For we, admiring 
the reformers for their great achievements, as we are 

* This explains how persecutors and schismatics should not al- 
ways be the worst of men, and how history should have so much good, 
as well as bad, to say of Charlemagne, Hildebrande, Laud, &c. 



THE QUESTION. 



107 



called upon to do by every sacred recollection, naturally 
fall into their errors too, and amongst others, therefore, 
into an exclusive admiration of uniformity. 

Add to this the fact, that we are apt to confound uni- 
formity not only with unity, but with harmony ; and that 
the idea of harmony is never so sweet to the soul as in 
the midst of discord ; and reasons enough will appear, 
why the prepossession in favour of uniformity (felt if not 
expressed), should be so strong in the church in the pre- 
sent day, as we may be conscious of finding it in ourselves, 
and of observing it to be in others. 

The prevalence of an opinion, however, is plainly no 
warrant for its justness, even when it cannot be traced 
to a fallacy. Have we not occasion every day to speak 
of prevalent errors ? And, in the present case, ought more 
than the least possible weight to be attached to the mere 
prevalence of a demand for uniformity, since it has been 
shewn that such a demand might be expected from a 
priori considerations, independent altogether of the par- 
ticular state of the case. 



THE QUESTION. 

The testimony of Scripture ; the suitableness or un- 
suitableness of an universal uniformity to such an insti- 
tution as an universal church, in the present state of 
humanity ; its harmony or discordance with the analogy 
of nature and providence ; its moral beauty or deformity ; 
its reasonableness ; its practicability, — these are the con- 
siderations which ought to decide our judgment in such 
a matter. Emancipating ourselves, therefore, from all 
fallacies and unreasonable prepossessions, let us now in- 
quire successively into these grounds of opinion, and see 
whether they point to an universal uniformity in religion 



108 



THE QUESTION. 



as that which is alone to be tolerated, and to be directly 
aimed at ; or whether they do not rather teach, that an 
unity of spirit, in variety of form, such as is immediately 
attainable (and, in fact, exists, were but a great move- 
ment of mutual esteem and love to be made by all the 
evangelical denominations towards each other), is a state 
of the universal church, not unchristian, not unconge- 
nial with the testimony of scripture, nor with the spirit 
of the gospel, and, in point of fact, the shortest road to a 
simpler, a happier, and a more uniform state of things. 



PART III. 
THE LIGHT OF SACRED HISTORY, 



THE BIBLE. 

PARADISE. 

THE CHERUBIM. 

CAIN AND ABEL. 

THE ANTEDILUVIAN WORLD. 

NOAH. 

BABEL. 

THE PRIEST. 

THE HINDOO. 

THE PATRIARCH. 

ABRAHAM AND MELCHIZEDEC. 

THE EGYPTIANS. 

THE ISRAELITES. 

god's CHOICE. 

THE NECESSITY. 

MOSES. 

THE JUDGES. 

THE LEVITES. 

JETHRO. 

THE CONSTITUTION. 

THE PHARISEE. 

THE THEOCRACY. 

THE SACRIFICE. 

THE MINISTRY. 

THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 

THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 

THE CHURCHES OF THE REFORMATION. 



( 111 ) 



THE BIBLE. 



The sacred Scriptures teach us the will of God in 
many ways. They are a manifold revelation. On the one 
hand, they are gemmed in every page with blessed truths, 
which radiate a healing virtue on the heart even of him 
who runneth as he reads. On the other, they consist in a 
great measure of history, which possesses this value pe- 
culiarly its own, that, while it records events, which are 
in themselves deeply interesting, it communicates also 
the divine will respecting them. Thus, when the Israel- 
ites were in want of water in the wilderness, and (as was 
usual with them under every privation) were complain- 
ing bitterly in consequence, Moses is divinely commanded 
to assemble the congregation before a certain rock, and 
is assured, that, in speaking to that rock (doubtless in the 
name of Jehovah), water would gush out. Accordingly, 
the congregation is assembled before the rock as com- 
manded. But unhappily, Moses seemingly over-elated by 
the prospect of performing such a glorious miracle, and 
impatient at the continual murmurings of the people, in- 
stead of addressing them calmly in the name of Jehovah, 
and merely speaking to the rock as he was commanded, 
strikes it oftener than once, and uses language to the 
people full of passion and egotism. " Hear now, ye 



112 



THE BIBLE. 



rebels," says he, " must we fetch water out of this rock." 
Such was his intemperate language. And what followed ? 
Immediately the water gushed. God did not stop the 
miracle, though Moses had sinned grievously in the per- 
formance of it. It is not with God as with man, who is 
ever saying, If you will not do your part, I will not do 
mine. The miracle went on. But no sooner was it over, 
than Moses is informed of God, and we by him, that God 
was highly displeased with his conduct. 

And so in other cases. The sacred history is peculiarly 
valuable in this way. While it records events which are 
in themselves deeply interesting, it records also the ap- 
proval or disapproval of God, — a feature this in which 
it stands alone among histories. 

It also possesses this feature of peculiar value, that it 
throws great light on the doctrines and precepts which 
were delivered during the epoch of the events recorded. 
For the word of God being a word always spoken in sea- 
son, never can we, without a knowledge of the state of 
society which then existed, arrive at a full and just under- 
standing of it. It is not, nor can it be, till after we have 
discovered what a doctrine of precept was to those to 
whom it was first addressed, and in whose language alone 
it was divinely uttered, that we can truly appreciate 
what it is when brought down to our times, and trans- 
lated into our language and ideas. In inquiring, there- 
fore, whether an unity of spirit, in variety of form, be not 
congenial with the constitution of the universal church 
in the present state of society, or whether an uniformity 
over all, as absolute as possible, be alone commendable, 
let us begin by looking to scripture in a historical point 
of view. 



PARADISE. 



113 



PARADISE. 

If we date the commencement of the church from the 
commencement of the moral history of our race, and look 
to our first parents in paradise, before sin entered, we 
shall find no traces there of such positive institutions.* as 
must^ always be required where uniformity is to be esta- 
blished. Distinct commands were indeed given, so as to 
impress man with a sense both of the government and 
providence of God, and to prevent the idea from ever 
entering his breast, that he was a creature abandoned to 
himself. But still every thing was favourable to the full 
unbosoming and outpouring of the individual heart to 
God. There were no restraints at that time, preventing 
a higher for the sake of a lower end. As the sweetest 
communion, and the holiest worship, seemed attainable, 
then, so was there no hindrance in the way of any hea- 
venly aspiration. The rubric of our first parents was in 
their heart. All was true liberty in Paradise. 

Notwithstanding the great value in certain circum- 
stances, and the occasional necessity of even a multitude 
of positive institutions to fallen men, and the ample code 
of them, which was divinely made for him in an after 
age, yet in Paradise only two at most were given. And 
these, in truth, when rightly viewed, declared themselves 
to be rather the symbolic representatives of a complete 
system of morality and religion than mere positive insti- 
tutions. The one was most beautifully suited to the 
complete education of reason ; the other no less, to the 

* " Under the name of positive institutions, we comprehend all 
those impositions and restraints, which, not being suggested to any 
man by his conscience, and having no necessary and natural con- 
nexion with the dictates of that internal monitor, seem to have no 
importance but what they may derive from the will of a superior 
who prescribes them." — Bishop Ilorsley's Sermons, — see first on Mark 
ii. 27. 



114 



PARADISE. 



complete education of conscience. Paradise was indeed 
a state of peculiar privilege. But that no Christian who 
truly knows his privileges and prospects as such, would 
consent to part with them on any terms, or could allow 
himself to wish (except, perhaps, in a moment of thought- 
lessness) that he were other than a Christian, one might 
he almost tempted to wish that he had lived in Paradise. 
The notices that we possess of the economy which then 
subsisted, are indeed but few ; yet are they ample enough 
to present us with a most delightful picture. Adam was 
only forbidden to eat of the fruit of a single tree. Nor 
are those taking an enlarged view of the economy under 
which he was placed, who regard this injunction merely 
as an arbitrary command, issued solely for the sake of 
testing his obedience. Doubtless it was calculated to 
serve this purpose well, and for this purpose, doubtless, 
it was in part designed. But for this only in part. It 
had far more in it than this. Such a command, given 
to an intelligent being, situate as Adam was, has such 
beautiful relation to the principle of liberty and indul- 
gence ; it is so pregnant with instruction, as to the right 
use and abuse of the creatures of God generally, that out 
of this single command, it would be easy to develope the 
whole system of self-denial, and consequently the whole 
of what is most peculiar in the morality of the cross. In 
a word, by reflecting upon this single command, the rea- 
son of our first parents could have educated itself, so as 
to have discerned, in all that appertained to them, the 
fitness of things, — knowledge this, peculiarly valuable in 
every situation, and peculiarly fit for paradise, because 
peculiarly full of enjoyment, whether used for contempla- 
tion or for guidance. 

The other positive institution to which I alluded, was 
the Sabbath ; for there are good arguments for believing 
that the Sabbath was instituted even in Paradise, and 



PARADISE. 



115 



we may as well assume that it was, since such an hypo- 
thesis can in no degree weaken our argument, though 
the contrary may have been the fact. The arguments 
which refer the Sabbath to Paradise, are, however, very 
strong. Thus, both in the second chapter of Genesis, 
and in the fourth commandment, where the reason is as- 
signed why the Sabbath was instituted, it is referred to the 
work of creation. The reason of its institution, there- 
fore, existed from the creation. But is it not most rea- 
sonable to infer that, similarly to the passover and other 
Jewish festivals, the Sabbath was instituted as soon as the 
reason of it existed, that is, as soon as the creation was 
completed ? Harmoniously with such a view, the Levites, 
in Nehemiah ix. 13. in their prayer, while they say that 
God gave them his laws, change the term, when alluding 
to the Sabbath, saying that He had notified it, or made 
it known, to them, — language which plainly refers to a 
law that had pre-existed, though it had possibly been lost, 
at the time when it was made known again. Much more 
might be advanced in favour of this view. 

The institution of the ^Sabbath-day, consecrated as 
that on which God ceased from all his works, survey- 
ed them, and pronounced them all very good, is so 
well calculated to cherish the spiritual and contem- 
plative life, so beautifully suited to invite the spirit 
of devotion from the depths of the soul, to rejoice 
in the light of God's countenance periodically, that no 
other ordinance can be conceived, at once more condu- 
cive to the nourishment of a spirit of piety, and to the 
supremacy of conscience, — none more congenial to all 
those thoughts and feelings by which self-improvement 
proceeds onwards. Volumes could not contain an ac- 
count of all the advantages that result to the soul from 
the institution of the Sabbath. It was truly made for 
man. Even those who, instead of welcoming it, do all 



116 



PARADISE. 



but curse the anticipation of the hallowed morn, are 
greatly benefited by it when it comes. It does good to 
all. It brings, as it were, the breath of God even to the 
nostrils of the most wicked. It is a sore trial to the world- 
ling. He can scarcely defend himself against its influence 
but by cursing it. And many yield to its blessed influence, 
and are brought to God by it. And those who go the 
other way, if they confess at all before they die, gene- 
rally confess this, — that the neglect and violation of the 
Sabbath, was the beginning of their strength in crime. 
Let no one speak against the Sabbath, till he has thought 
much upon the subject. 

The positive precepts of Paradise, therefore, so far 
as we can learn, when referred to general principles of 
morality, or, in other words, when moralized, amount 
to these all-embracing maxims, — Beware of indulgence, 
and adore God, maxims in which it might be demon- 
strated that all true duty, all true happiness, are includ- 
ed ; and by which it might be equally shewn that all true 
liberty must ever be circumscribed. 

But the precepts necessary for the admonition and 
education of reason and conscience thus laid down for 
our first parents in two positive institutions, all the details 
of every-day life, were fully committed to then own con- 
duct. A command was given, and that wholly in the form 
of a command. And this, all independently of its parti- 
cular nature, was calculated to remind them, as it echoed 
in their memories, that they were creatures, and that the 
first article in their calling was obedience to their Crea- 
tor. But yet, even in this command, very much was 
left for the discovery of their reason. It went a certain 
length, but yet it left far more to be understood by them 
than was expressed in it. In so far as concerned the 
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, it regulated 
man's manner of living. But, thus taught that one pro- 



PARADISE. 



117 



duct of the earth was injurious, man was left to discover 
for himself with regard to all others, except fruits, whe- 
ther they were fit for use or not. His religion, in like 
manner, was regulated for him so far. The Sabbath was 
appointed. But as to man's mode of worship, no formal 
ritual was prescribed. On the contrary, he was required 
to develope for himself a congenial and suitable Sabbath- 
service out of the grateful and devotional sentiments of 
his own heart. 

Now, if, in such circumstances, we conceive that, in- 
stead of a single pair, there had been thousands of wor- 
shippers assembled in many groves all over the East, is 
it credible that there could have been an universal uni- 
formity over all i An unity of faith, an unity of spirit, 
a communion among all, there would undoubtedly have 
been. But when the utterances of thousands of hearts, 
all individualized and peculiarly strung, freely embodied 
themselves in unrestrained words, and attitudes, and 
forms of worship, would there not have been variety too 
as well as unity ? Who can doubt it for a moment ? 

But not to dwell on this argument, since it stands on 
a mere hypothesis, and since the melancholy fact is, that 
the human race fell from innocence, while yet, instead of 
being thousands, they were only two, let us pass on, re- 
peating only the fact which so fully appears from what 
has been stated, namely, that when man was innocent, 
almost every thing was entrusted to his reason and con- 
science, almost every thing was expected from the piety 
of his own heart, enlarged and ennobled by immediate con- 
verse and communion with God. Such was the state of 
things in Paradise. And what could be more diverse 
from that which the church that insists on uniformity, — the 
church of Rome — presents to us ? In that church, the pre- 
scribed form, the positive institution, the rubric, is every 
thing. In Paradise, on the contrary, a sense of God, the 



118 



THE CHERUBIM. 



utterance of the heart, spontaneous piety was every thing. 
In so far, therefore, as the paradisaical state is to be 
viewed as the limit towards which the gospel is designed 
to raise those whom it regenerates, it is very certain that 
the attempt to suppress the dictates of reason and con- 
science, and the utterance of the heart, in order to gain an 
universal uniformity in religion, derives no countenance 
from it. 

THE CHERUBIM. 

But the dreary hour is come when man, refusing al- 
ready to remain in the place assigned to him by his 
Maker, and aspiring to be a god, is " divorced" — is driven 
forth from Eden ; and the cherubim are placed at the 
east of the garden " to keep the way of the tree of life." 
Now, whatever view we take of these cherubs ; whether 
we adopt the ordinary view and regard them as actual an- 
gelic beings ; or prefer the opinions of those who, after 
having bestowed great pains on the inquiry, regard them 
as the originals of the cherubim afterwards ordered for 
the Tabernacle, and believe that they were appointed to 
keep the way of the tree of life in the same way as the 
symbolism of the Old Testament economy was ; we are 
equally led to the conclusion, that their office or ministry 
must have been to quicken conscience, of which their 
flaming sword (or involving fire) was so apt a represen- 
tative ; and to keep alive a sense of God on those who, 
but for some such symbolism and memorial of his cha- 
racter might have soon forgotten Him. 

Even supposing, as may be maintained with much 
learning, if not with equal evidence from Scripture, that 
this place to the East of Eden, where the cherubim were 
posted, was the spot where resort was made for the pri- 
mitive worship of God, who, as we know He did after- 



THE CHERUBIM. 



119 



wards, may possibly then have communed with the wor- 
shippers from between or above the cherubim, still there 
is nothing in this resorting there for worship, which reason 
and conscience could not bring about. On the contrary, 
such a result as the congregating thither of the primitive 
worshippers, is just what is to be expected, if we suppose 
them left wholly free to the guidance of these monitors. 
Thus, suppose there were an object now, whatever its na- 
ture, if only it were known to have been placed where it 
stood by God, who would be contented till he had gone 
and seen it ? And if it were a divine symbol impressed by 
the Divine presence, whether with life or fire ; and espe- 
cially if it told such a tale as the expulsion of man from pa- 
radise by the God whom he had justly offended, who could 
refrain from being moved by devotional feelings in the 
presence of that object? — who could refrain from kneel- 
ing down there to implore pardon, and pray for a way of 
acceptance ? Thus, even supposing it to have been the 
work and design of God that the first men should come 
to the east of the Garden of Eden to worship, it would 
not have needed a positive command to bring them 
there. Nor could any positive precept have made so sure 
of their coming, as the curiosity and other motives which 
the placing of the cherubim would call into action. 

This view, if adopted, would enable us also to explain all 
the leading features of the early idolatries, especially the re- 
semblances among their principal idols ; while, with regard 
to the Mosaic symbolism, the disagreeable idea that much 
of it was merely adopted from that of Egypt as its proto- 
type, would fall to the ground ; because, according to this 
view, the idolatrous objects of the Egyptians themselves, 
which are known to have resembled to a considerable ex- 
tent, certain symbols which Moses was commanded to con- 
struct, would be viewed in the light not of originals but 
spurious representatives of an older symbolism belonging 



120 



THE CHERUBIM. 



to the true religion, of which the true forms and symbolic 
meanings had been lost and corrupted by human depra- 
vity. All this would follow if the view which has been 
given as to the cherubim at the East of Eden being the 
original Tabernacle of the first worshippers be adopted ; 
for, according to the principles of human nature, it is only 
to be expected that, in these circumstances, men, as they 
multiplied and spread, and became more indifferent about 
Eden and about the cherubs there, would construct repre- 
sentatives of these cherubs at their homes and in their cities, 
and depart from all truth both as to their forms and sig- 
nification. In this way the winged figures which we find 
among the monuments of the ancient Persians and Egyp- 
tians, would receive a happy explanation. In a word, in 
order to account for all the phenomena of the early my- 
thologies, it would only be necessary to consider the 
workings of natural reason and conscience in fallen man. 

Nor let it be advanced as an objection to the views of 
this work, that it is confessed in the preceding remarks 
on the cherubim, that there was an uniformity in the 
primitive worship, because it has been shewn to have been 
extremely probable that all the worshippers came to the 
cherubim, and probably expressed there, the same feel- 
ings and offered up the same prayers. Such uniformity, 
an uniformity which results from the spontaneous move- 
ments of the hearts of individual worshippers, is not ob- 
jected to in this work ; on the contrary, it is anticipated 
as one of the most beautiful features of the millenium. 

But what, let me ask again, did the cherubim sym- 
bolize and represent ; and what views respecting the ne- 
cessity of an uniformity over all the churchy, or of the 
sufficiency of an unity of spirit in variety of form does 
this view of the subject lead to ? The prevalent view re- 
specting the cherubim is, that they were angelic beings, or 
symbolic figures which represented angelic beings. Some 



THE CHERUBIM. 



121 



speculators have even maintained that they represent the 
Godhead itself. Now, of these opinions, the former is not 
without good arguments in its favour, and ought not to be 
excluded from our regard. On the contrary let it be received 
as one of their significations. But when we consider that 
the living creatures which John saw in his apocalyptic 
vision,* and which were plainly cherubic emblems, fell 
down along with the elders and joined in the song to the 
Lamb, ascribing, along with the elders, their own re- 
demption to His blood, we are forced to conclude that 
whatever the cherubim may have represented besides, 
they also represented redeemed creatures. And indeed 
if we suppose that the principal object which the cheru- 
bic symbols represented, is the church itself, no symbols 
could be more significant. Thus they were ordained 
and presented to the eyes of man as soon as the Church 
was instituted,-[- and their office then was just that 
of the Church in all ages, viz. " to keep the way of the 
tree of life," to keep off the unprepared, the impenitent, 
the profane ; and to suffer to pass in, to receive and lead 
;< in the way of the tree of life," all that are penitent, 
Again, their situation in the tabernacle and temple, their 
being made of the same piece of gold with the covering 
of the propitiatory, and their looking constantly upon it, 
are very expressive of the union of the Church with the 
Redeemer (" our propitiatory"), and of the need the 
Church has to be covered over with his robe of righteous- 
ness, and of looking always stedfastly to him. And, 
finally, the fact that God always manifested himself 
from between or above the cherubim, is equally favour- 
able to the same view ; for it is in the Church and its 
members that God does in all ages manifest himself in 
another way than he does unto the world. All things con- 
sidered, therefore, it must be admitted that the cherubim 
* Rev. v. 9. t Gen. iii. 24, 



122 



THE CHERUBIM. 



are at least very significant emblems of the Church. And 
may we not then regard them as having been symbols of it ? 

Well, then, supposing they were, what do they teach as 
to the form of the Church ? What do they indicate as to 
the necessity of uniformity over all, or as to the suffici- 
ency and suitableness of unity of spirit in variety of form ? 
What were their own forms ? It is generally agreed that 
Moses, who writes of cherubim as of objects well known in 
his times, gives no description of them minute enough to 
enable us to ascertain what their forms were. But from 
Ezekiel we learn that a cherub was a figure composed of 
a single winged body with four heads, that of a lion, of 
an ox, and of an eagle, united into one with the head of 
a man.* Now, since we have probably lost for ever the 
means of ascertaining the hieroglyphic signification of 
these animals in those times, we ought to speak modestly 
upon the subject. It is obvious, however, that, while each 
of these heads is the noblest of the tribe it belongs to. 
they all vary from one another. It is also to be remarked, 
that they were all united along with a human head. And 
on this last no doubt the eye of the observer would rest, as 
emphatically the head. Thus, viewing the cherubim as 
symbols of the Church, we are led to view the form of the 
Church corresponding to it as composed of three forms 
differing from each other, though each noble in itself, 
and all united into one by a nobler nature, of which hu- 
manity was a characteristic. Now it is certain that all 
evangelical denominations, however numerous, are but 
varieties of one or other of three great forms or consti- 
tutions of church polity. And thus were these three ce- 
mented into one, through "the head," who is also empha- 
tically " the Son of man," should we not have an unity in 
variety curiously analogous in form to the cherubim ? But 
let us not press a view whose curiosity may justly strike the 
* Ezekiel x. 



CAIN AND ABEL. 



123 



reader more than its ver similitude. Let us disregard it. 
Let- us rest contented with the mere general inference, that 
if the cherubim symbolize and represent the Church, they 
indicate, as to its form, that it does not need to be an ab- 
solute unity, or to possess an uniformity over all, but that 
it quadrates completely with its symbol when there is an 
unity of spirit in variety of form. And thus the cherubim 
preach to us Catholicity of spirit in a very distinct man- 
ner, which we shall find as we proceed, that the whole light 
of sacred history equally proclaims. 



CAIN AND ABEL. 

After the Fall, just as before it, so far as we can learn, 
these elements of catholicity of spirit — reason and con- 
science, and the spirit of devotion in the heart of the wor- 
shipper — were called upon to do almost all that God re- 
quired of man, both in the conduct of life and of worship. 
At that melancholy epoch a most important change did in- 
deed take place upon the very essence of all true religion, 
and consequently in its form. Sin entered, and forthwith 
worship by sacrifice became necessary. And on this subject, 
doubtless, the progenitors of the human race received very 
explicit information from a present and communing God. 
For reason and conscience, the whole soul indeed needs a 
new illumination (as I have already endeavoured to shew),* 
before it can see the necessity of sacrifice, or lay hold of 
the doctrine of the atonement, or trust in a Redeemer. 
" We cannot think that cutting the throat of an innocent 
lamb could enter into the head of Abel, one of so gentle 
a disposition, as a homage acceptable unto God, had he not 
been commanded to do it."*|- There can be no doubt that 

* See the article on Grace, page 68. 

t Grew's Cosraologia Sacra, Book iv. chap. vii. 



124 



CAIN AND ABEL. 



our first parents received positive revelations on the sub- 
ject of sacrifice, and had their worship so far regulated 
for them. But it appears that the nature and necessity 
of such offerings explained to them, almost all besides 
was devolved upon their reason and conscience. In other 
words a great degree of liberty, — a degree which, in the 
first instance, proved fatal, — was granted, as to the man- 
ner in which such offerings should be made. 

The offerings of Cain and Abel fully illustrate this 
truth. Cain, we are informed, brought of the fruit of the 
ground an offering unto the Lord, and Abel the firstlings 
of his flock, and of the fat thereof.* Now, unless much 
had been devolved upon reason and conscience, m other 
words, unless great liberty had been granted even in that 
part of worship which relates to sacrifice, how could we 
explain this dissimilarity between the offerings of the two 
brothers. Had, indeed, both of them been accepted, then 
we might have assumed that both of them had been com- 
manded. But one only was accepted. The other was 
refused. Nor can we suppose that the rejection of Cain's 
offering arose from its having been forbidden ; for he 
seems emulous with his brother, and hopeful that his own 
offering would prove, at least, as acceptable as the other. 
It was only after the event had disappointed his unreason- 
able and proud expectations, that his countenance fell, 
and his wrath burst forth. Now, if Cain's offering had 
been forbidden, how could he have expected that it should 
have been accepted ; such an expectation would have 
been insane. We are, therefore, led to conclude, that its 
non-acceptance was not on account of its having been a 
forbidden thing, but because it was (as the Scriptures 
assure us) an offering of a wicked heart, f an offering not 
of faith4 

In truth, Cain's offering was no sacrifice at all. It was 

* G-en. iv. 3. 4. t 1 John in. 12. % Ileb. xi. 4. 



CAIX AND ABEL. 



125 



no act^of the religion of a fallen creature. It was not in 
harmony with the mediatorial scheme, which alone was 
now the true religion. It neither indicated in the wor- 
shipper any confession of sin, nor did it even imply any 
consciousness of it. As it could not open the way, there- 
fore, so neither did it indicate any fitness for acceptance. 
It was, even on the most favourable construction as to 
Cain's motives, no more than a trivial expression of gra- 
titude ; and though it had been an offering the most ample 
and honourable of that sort, still it could never open the 
way to a sinner's acceptance. For though, doubtless, the 
favour of God is ever ready to outpour on the heart that 
is grateful to Him ; and though His ear is ever open to 
accept every act of voluntary worship,* in which spirit 
and truth preside ; yet, in the case of every sinner, his sin 
must first be put out of the way before communion can 
take place between him and a holy God. But it forms a 
first principle of evangelical religion, that in order to this 
there must be the shedding of blood.-f* From judicial con- 
siderations, therefore, and the first principles of things 
which, though reason cannot discover, faith can accredit, 
and which the mercy even of God cannot supersede, 
Cain's offering could not be accepted. But this is not all 

* The statement here made stands in contrast with a statement 
frequently made by persons who, being pious, are consequently entitled 
to all regard, namely, when they use the term will- worship, as if there 
were in the Gospel a passage in which worship, when the offspring of 
the will, were condemned merely because it was so. On referring 
to Coloss. ii and 23d, however, where alone the term will-worship oc- 
curs, it will be found that the design of the apostle is not to condemn 
the worshipping of angels, and abstinence from certain meats, because 
they were a will- worship, and a semblance of humility merely, but 
to shew that, though it seemed to be in their favour that they were 
voluntary acts of worship, and demanded humility, yet their being 
snch did not justify or excuse them, since they were wrong in them- 
selves. 

t Heb. ix. 22. 



126 



CAIN AND ABEL. 



that was against it. Cain was a revengeful and a mur- 
derous man. No wonder, therefore, his offering was re- 
jected. " The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination 
to the Lord."* But let us not dwell too long on this most 
interesting page of sacred history. Ere we leave it, 
however, let us not fail to observe a fact immediately 
relating to our inquiry, and which this passage of sacred 
Scripture teaches, namely, that the first display of the 
irascible passions which had a fatal issue, took its rise in 
a religious difference. Alas ! how often has the same 
cause produced the same effects since ! It is natural, in- 
deed, that differences, in a matter of such deep import- 
ance as religion is, should move the passions ; but it is 
Christian to keep these passions under. Since the days 
of Cain, however, till the present day, the spirit of Cain 
has still dwelt upon the earth, — has still been " a wan- 
derer and a vagabond" over it. It has troubled every 
region. As, indeed, Abel is the type and representative 
of the spirit of true piety, so may his elder brother be 
regarded as the type and representative of religious ha- 
tred and persecution. It has been usual to regard him 
as representing the spirit of the world, and, no doubt, 
using this term in its widest sense, he did so ; for in the 
spirit of the world, that of religious hatred and persecu- 
tion is included. But, if any distinction is to be made 
between the two, the spirit of Cain must be associated 
with the persecuter rather than with the worldling. He 
slew his brother, not in order to take possession of any 
thing that was his, or, indeed, to gain any worldly ad- 
vantage whatever ; he slew him simply because he hated 
his religion, and the virtues to which it gave birth. 

And here let us mark also the result of the assault 
which Cain made upon Abel, — the assault which hypo- 
crisy, hatred, and dark malignity made upon gentleness, 

* Prov. xv. 8. 



THE AXTEDILUVIAX WORLD. 



127 



and love, and enlightened piety. Cain rose up against 
Abel his brother. Abel fell. And is not this an instance 
of what may generally be expected in a physical encounter 
between the children of the light and the children of dark- 
ness. To the former, force is not the sphere of victory. 
Not but they are to defend themselves when attacked, as 
possibly Abel did. But the weapons of their warfare are 
not carnal. And all those angry and proud arguments 
which issue from the carnal heart of the polemic, and of 
which the religious world is now so full, are weapons 
of Cain, unchristian and accursed. There are only two 
ways of it, the spirit of persuasion, and the spirit of the 
sword ; and of these the spirit of persuasion is alone Chris- 
tian. Yet better far the bright steel, and have done with 
it, than a foul tongue poisoning the air, from year to 
year, with its bitter and malignant utterances, and vam- 
pire-like seeking to suck out the heart's blood of all who 
cannot assent to its imperious dictates. What though it 
utters itself in religious tones and syllables : Is it conse- 
crated, forsooth ! 



THE AXTEDILUVIAX WORLD. 

It is well known, that after the fall, and before the 
flood, men degenerated, as they multiplied, with marvel- 
lous rapidity, and proved themselves, after comparatively 
few ages, altogether unworthy of the liberty with which 
they had been entrusted. Instead of maintaining reason 
and conscience in the supremacy of the soul, which is 
their only rightful place, mankind speedily plunged into 
such a state of indulgence, and turned so impious, that 
God was moved to extirpate the existing population, and 
to renovate the race. And what is the lesson which such 
a sad catastrophe is peculiarly designed to teach us ? 



128 



THE ANTEDII/UVIAN WORLD. 



What were the peculiar faults in the constitution of an- 
tediluvian society, through which it hurried so fast into 
utter perdition ? This is a deeply interesting question. 
It must be confessed, however, that the notices which we 
have of these times are too slender to admit of a satis- 
factory solution of it. But from the little that we do 
know, we may safely infer two causes of the degene- 
racy of the antediluvians, both of them intimately con- 
nected with our subject. 

It has been shewn, that, down to the deluge, there 
were but few positive institutions in religion. Now 
this state of things, — since it was the original state, — 
ought to lead us to infer, that, whenever such institutions 
have been divinely given in after ages, it was only be- 
cause they were indispensably necessary, not because 
they are in themselves the choice of God. That God 
has no pleasure in them, we may indeed well believe, 
not only from the Scripture history of man, but from their 
awkwardness as means of securing obedience, compared 
with the law written on the heart, the law of reason and 
conscience. At all events, the fact that so few were in- 
stituted until after it had been demonstrated that the 
other method had failed, leads us to infer with certainty 
that they are to be ascribed to a necessity, rather than a 
pure preference on the part of God. 

The fact of their fewness in the antediluvian world, 
however, when viewed, not alone, and merely as an evi- 
dence of what God designed first to manifest in providence, 
but when taken in connexion with the lawlessness and 
impiety with which that fewness was associated, and the 
sad catastrophe in which the whole economy terminated, 
ought plainly to prepare us for a greater number of such 
institutions in after ages. 

The fate of the antediluvian world, in which positive 
institutions appear to have been almost entirely wanting. 



NOAII 



12U 



teaches distinctly that there are certain states of hu- 
man nature when but little can be trusted to reason and 
conscience? and when positive institutions, and effective 
authority, are the only means by which piety, and even 
society itself, can be perpetuated. This, then, is one im- 
portant lesson which the world before the flood has hand- 
ed down to us. 

There is also another feature of these times not unwor- 
thy of notice here. In all societies, subsequently to the 
deluge, which have risen even a single step only in the 
scale of civilization, wherever, in short, there has been 
society at all, a class of men has invariably existed, ha- 
ving for their duty to teach religion, and perform the 
offices of worship. In all ages and countries which have 
any histories, a priesthood or ministry of some sort or 
other, is constantly to be found. But amongst the ante- 
diluvians, we find no traces of such an order of men. 
And this fact, whether we regard it as the cause or the 
effect of their impiety and lawlessness, equally points to 
this great truth in the philosophy of history, That an 
order of men set apart for teaching religion, is one of 
the most essential elements of a well-constituted society. 
While priestcraft, therefore, is condemned, as the world 
has too often had good occasion to do, and as we shall 
take occasion to do in the sequel, let us not condemn the 
sacerdotal or pastoral institution. Whatever evils may 
have resulted from its corrupt administration, it is worthy 
of belief, that no other order of men has done so much, 
upon the whole, for the well-being of the human species, 

NOAH. 

But the deluge has swept over the earth. Its ungodly 
masses of human creatures are no more. The church 



130 



NOAH. 



is reduced to a single family. Society begins from a 
new fountain. Noah, and his sons, and his sons' wives, 
descend from Mount Ararat. And what is the economy 
which the new order of things presents to our considera- 
tion ? Are we not to expect that, in order to prevent 
for the future the indulgence which had ruined the race 
already, the survivors shall be straitly bound on all hands 
by positive laws and institutions, so that, for the time to 
come, as little as possible may be left to reason and con- 
science, which, though divinely assisted by the immediate 
communion and guidance of God, had already proved 
themselves so incompetent to resist the impulses of ap- 
petite, and the allurements of sin ? This is what might 
have been expected, not without much shew of reason. 
But it was not so. Instead of bindings, and restraints, 
and a manifold exhibition of authority, all the communica- 
tions which God made to Noah, when the flood was over, 
were of the nature of promises, and extensions of privi- 
lege. The patriarch was, indeed, commanded to refrain 
from eating life-blood. But this was an ordinance con- 
nected with sacrifice ; and therefore the fact of such a 
command being given, is only calculated to illustrate 
what has been already advanced on this subject, namely, 
that this part of worship must always be put under po- 
sitive rule ; because, being a matter of faith only, not of 
nature, reason and conscience are quite incompetent to 
organize a suitable ritual. It may also be remarked, that 
the forefending of blood was calculated to have a very 
admirable effect in restraining the injured from man- 
slaughter, which, in all infant societies, is peculiarly apt 
to be precipitately committed, because it is not possible, 
in such times, to establish any other law but that of re-" 
venge, — a mode of punishment such that its outgoings 
can scarcely be regulated. The forbidding of blood was, 
therefore, a precept which, though positive, was not ar- 



NOAH. 



131 



bitrary. It was full of significancy, both as to religion 
and morals. It is to be remarked, moreover, that this 
restraint was, after all, only the limitation of a privilege 
newly conferred, namely, the grant of animal food ; — a 
very remarkable grant, since to this day we find animal 
food strictly forbidden in those regions, by a priesthood 
so ancient that they refer their laws to a divine sage, 
who, under the name of Menu, is generally thought by 
mythologists to be Noah himself. 

Whether, therefore, we look to our first parents in pa- 
radise, to their immediate posterity, or to the race that 
survived the deluge, we find that, down to the dispersion 
of mankind,- provision was made for spiritual religion on- 
ly. Except in what relates to sacrifice, for which, as has 
been shewn, reason and conscience are wholly insufficient, 
and positive precepts are indispensable, almost every point 
of conduct was committed to reason and conscience. In 
so far, therefore, as a detail of positive regulations are 
necessary in order to secure an universal uniformity in 
religion, we are warranted to infer, that no provision was 
made for such uniformity in the first ages, and that a 
worship conducted in spirit and in truth, and standing in 
the free utterance of the heart's devotion, was all that 
was required, or that belonged to that epoch. The ma- 
teriel of true catholicity, therefore, existed. And the 
sons of God, when they met, would recognise each other 
as brethren, so soon as each saw that the other loved 
God, and obeyed his voice. There would, therefore, 
reign in those early days that same spirit which reigned 
in the breast of the apostle when he said, " Unto all that 
in everyplace call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, 
both theirs and ours, grace be unto you, and peace from 
God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ."* 
* 1 Cor. i. 3. 



132 



BABEL. 



BABEL. 

We may here remark, however, that, not long after 
the flood, an event occurred, which, according to one view 
at least, serves well to illustrate the great desire which 
the human fancy always has for associations of which the 
charm shall be an universal uniformity, a sameness in lip 
and word, among all the members. 

A section of the family of Noah, disposed to move to- 
wards the west (which has generally been the direction 
in which the human family have spontaneously migrated), 
left the abode of their forefathers in the east, and, after 
crossing rivers and mountains, arrived on the plain of 
Shinar, a territory which, doubtless, was both fertile and 
beautiful, else they would not have thought of settling 
there. But there they came and dwelt. And what we 
have particularly to remark here is, that, when settled 
there, they formed the resolution to build a city and a 
tower, with a top unto heaven (for such, rather than as 
it stands in the public version, is the translation of the 
Hebrew), that is, most probably, a top to serve for reli- 
gious purposes, to be the depository of religious symbol- 
ism, and the fountain of religious authority. The very 
short narrative of Scripture does not, indeed, supply us 
with any details ; nor is it a subject on which to dogma- 
tize. But this appears to be the most probable view. 
Similar towers are found in the east to this day. And 
every thing prompts to the conclusion, that one of the 
main objects of the Babel-builders was to erect a temple 
which might be perpetual, and have such a system of re- 
ligious worship and symbolism connected with it, as, 
being uniform over all, might still serve to shew that all 
the original settlers in the plain of Shinar were one, 
however much they should be scattered over the whole 



BABEL. 



133 



earth afterward. " Let us make a name," said they, 
" lest we be scattered abroad on the face of the whole 
earth." 

Here, then, even in those early days, we find, accord- 
ing to this view, a portion of the family of Noah seeking 
to make to itself a name, that is, viewing their endea- 
vour as of a religious nature (which no doubt it was in 
some sort, for in those days every thing was connected 
with religion, either the true or false, and so it is in the 
East to this day), seeking to constitute themselves a deno- 
mination. Here, in short, even in those early days, is a sect 
proposing to inclose itself within certain barriers of its own 
erection, of which the leading features appear to have been 
a oneness or sameness, of " lip" or word and worship, the 
tower being the depository of the rubric, or rather of the 
symbols or hieroglyphics in which such worship would no 
doubt be clothed and preserved. Uniformity over all the 
sect, then, and a sacred language peculiar to themselves, 
with all the exclusive feelings in which alone such a system 
could originate, and which it was designed to perpetu- 
ate, appear to have been the objects and the animating 
principles of the builders of the original Babel. That 
those who formed such a scheme were also of tyrannical 
and persecuting dispositions, we may infer, if we take 
Nimrod, who appears to have been one of the most power- 
ful of the chiefs among them, as a representative of the 
others. But here let me quote the curious remarks of a 
recent author, of equal ingenuity and piety, whose view is 
here presented to the reader. " Although (says Mr Mori- 
son) we purpose dividing the subject before us into the se- 
veral names of the religions which sprung out of the Babel 
union, rather than into notices of the different kingdoms, 
and the creed professed by each ; yet the brief reference 
in the Bible to the first potentate of Babylon is so curi- 
ous, and the kingdom which began with him occupies so 



134 



BABEL. 



large a space in the prophetic writings, that it seems ad- 
visable to devote a few pages to the consideration of the 
origin and nature of that great Old Testament antichris- 
tian power. 

It is narrated of Nimrod, in the third generation from 
Noah, that " he began to be a mighty one in the earth," 
and as " the beginning of his kingdom," that is, the head 
or the metropolis of his kingdom, " was Babel," we con- 
clude that he headed the remains of the coalition there ; 
after the sects and parties had been broken off, and had 
taken their departure to other lands. 

The coalition formed by Nimrod extended far, and 
many great cities rapidly attested the number of his sub- 
jects and the extent of his power. After founding four 
cities in the land of Shinar, he went forth into Assyria 
and built four there also. When all these cities are enu- 
merated, there is a curious note appended in the text, 
which seems, in our translation, to apply only to Resen, 
but which we apprehend refers to the whole Babylonish 
power. " The same (it is said) is a great city." Now less 
is heard afterwards of Resen than of the others. The 
note is literally, " This the city the great." Comparing 
that note with what is said of spiritual Babylon, Rev. 
xvii. 18, " The woman that thou sawest is that great city 
which reigneth over the kings of the earth," it may be 
considered whether the note in Genesis is not applicable 
to the whole Babylonish dominions ; and thus early points 
it out as the great ancient worldly power which was to 
stand in contrast with the smallness and comparative 
weakness of " Jacob the Lord's portion." 

The first monarch of this great empire is said to have 
been <£ a mighty hunter before the Lord." This is one of 
the instances in which the translators have chosen the 
secondary and derivative meaning of a word, instead of 
its primary signification ; one of those unfortunate phrases 



BABEL. 



135 



which have contributed so much to instil contemptible 
ideas respecting the early events recorded in the Bible. 
It might have been expected that if the unlikelihood had 
not occurred to them of the sacred historian recording 
that the monarch of an empire so magnificent was so 
great a hunter that his hunting became a proverb, the 
phrase " before the Lord" would have set the translators 
right.* 

The original intention of the Babel conspiracy was uni- 
formity " before the Lord" or in religious matters. Nim- 
rod seems to have entered into the scheme with great 
zeal, and " verily he had his reward." He was a mighty 
cons trainer before the Lord, or in the cause of the Lord, 
and he acquired great fame by it ; his efforts were very 
notable, and it continued a proverb for many ages after- 
wards, " Even as Nimrod the great intolerant before the 
Lord." Thus early did that great intolerance begin to 
rear its head which became in process of time " the ban- 
ner of the whole earth." Thus early did that hunting 
commence of which it was afterwards said, " Will ye hunt 
the souls of my people ?" " They hunt every man his 
brother with a net." 

We shall not properly estimate the nature of this 
bigotry and zeal, and the jealousy with which it always 
looked at " the inheritance of the Lord," without keeping 
in view the religious origin of the Babylonish kingdom, 
and the public nature of the call of Abraham, and of the 
promises given to him and his seed. " The great city 
Babylon " and its dependencies had their origin while all 
the earth was at one in religious matters. There was no 
doubt, therefore, its institutions were founded in truth, 
and that its doctrines were similar to that professed by 
the immediate progenitors of Abraham. The scheme, 
although as formerly noticed, only a section of the great 

;; This is not good criticism. See page 154. 



136 



BABEL. 



rise, was still magnificent in its conception, and imposing 
by the worldly power and grandeur which accompanied it. 
Founded on such principles, possessed by such power, it 
assumed the tone of the kingdom of heaven in this world. 
It not only " sat as a queen," but " lifted itself up to 
heaven." Babylon became " the praise of the whole 
earth," and it was said by her and her antitype, " What 
city is like unto the great city" — her " head" or origin 
in heaven, her institutions heavenly, her very intolerance 
a passport to the kingdom of heaven ! 

It is observable how strict Babel maintained the cha- 
racter of her founder for intolerance even to the very 
last. Even when Nebuchadnezzar acknowledges the God 
of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego — the acknow- 
ledgment cannot be made without a bull ; the confession 
of the truth cannot be made without a decree ; " There- 
fore, I, Nebuchadnezzar, make a decree, that every peo- 
ple, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss 
against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, 
shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a 
dunghill ; because there is no other God that can deliver 
after this sort."* 

Such are the interesting remarks of this author on the 
" subject of Babel." But let us now observe, that this 
original attempt after uniformity (if such it really was) 
completely failed,-}- and, as we learn from the sacred his- 
tory, was wholly displeasing to God. 

But though the attempt to introduce a self-invented 
symbolism in worship, and an uniformity over all, was 
frustrated in this instance, yet it has not always been so. 
And in almost every community a certain class have suc- 
ceeded in what the Babel-builders as a body failed. 

* See Morison's Religious History of Man, p. 219, 
t Gen. xi. 8. 



THE PRIEST. 



137 



THE PRIEST. 

Allusion has already been made to a priesthood laying 
the people under restraints as to meats, which God gave 
in free grant to Noah and his posterity, and in them to 
all mankind. And there is a priesthood in the present 
day, walking so curiously in the footsteps of those who 
have gone before them ; and though they claim the name 
of Catholic, yet opposing so strenuously all true catho- 
licity, that it belongs to these pages to touch on this sub- 
ject. And this is perhaps the best place for doing so ; for, 
already in the family of Noah, in the most remote anti- 
quity to which profane history or tradition can carry us, we 
find an order of men similar to that which has just been 
alluded to ; we find a regularly constituted priesthood. 

Nor is this to be wondered at. The sacerdotal insti- 
tution is the natural fruit of human nature ; and for good 
or for evil according to circumstances, makes its appear- 
ance wherever society possesses any degree of develop- 
ment at all. Man loves power, and needs religion, and 
these two principles are enough to develope a priesthood 
in every community. Man loves power ; and, generally 
speaking, every body does what in him lies to become 
possessed of power. But of all who are aiming at power, 
especially in a simple and ignorant state of society, the 
priest is sure to succeed the best. For man feels his 
need of religion ; and history proves, that in such a state 
of society as has been referred to, there is a constant 
tendency on the part of the people to refer every display 
of power, and every unexplained phenomenon, simply 
and directly to the divine agency. By a felicity of igno- 
rance, its only felicity, simple people pass by all second 
causes, and, ascending at once to the fountain-head, 
ascribe all things to God. And this were indeed good, 

M 



138 



THE PRIEST. 



and, in point of fact, the noblest philosophy, as well as 
the soundest theology, did they only refrain from ascrib- 
ing what is sinful to God. But, unfortunately for the cause 
of truth and morality, simple people make no distinctions. 
Not discriminating between the divine fountain itself, 
which pours forth the mighty torrent of life and power 
always pure, and the creature machinery which that tor- 
rent sets agoing and maintains in action, simple peo- 
ple ascribe all to God, the deformed as well as the beauti- 
ful, the evil as well as the good. In the early stage of the 
human mind, there is little reflection and no analysis. All 
is impression. Philosophy is as yet wholly in the womb 
of religion. A Pantheism is the universal faith. A 
Theocracy is the only form of government recognised. 

Nor was this feature in the character of man neglected 
in the councils of Heaven. An epoch in the develop- 
ment of humanity, in many respects so beautiful, was 
not suffered to pass away without the peculiar voice of 
Heaven respecting it. God took it up ; and by revealing 
the knowledge of Satan, an agency distinct from his own, 
and opposed to it, and having for its object the advance- 
ment of evil, as his own has the advancement of good, 
God purged Pantheism of its capital error. And this 
done, He then became Himself the head of that form of 
government which has been named, and which is alone 
congenial with the spirit of primaeval times, and the ne- 
cessities of primaeval society. God consecrated the theo- 
cratic epoch of the human mind. He gave his chosen 
people a true theocracy. 

But, passing by this idea for the present (afterwards 
to return to it), and merely calling to mind the tendency 
of man in a primaeval state, to refer every thing to Di- 
vine agency, there is in this fact plainly the ground on 
which an ambitious man may practise with success, in 
order to attain authority of the highest kind. In order 



THE PRIEST 



139 



to this, in fact, it is plain that nothing more is necessary, 
than that he manage to persuade the people around him. 
that he is one who communicates more directly than they 
do with that Divine power, of which they all are already 
predisposed to be mysteriously and darkly impressed. 
Such a course, then, being open to ambition, many may 
be expected to attempt to attain to power and authority in 
this way, and some to succeed. And thus is the first foot- 
step made towards the existence of a sacerdotal order. 

But the talents which are crowned with success in 
such an enterprise, will be generally sufficient, also, to 
teach those who are successful, not to quarrel with each 
other. Nay, since a contradiction of each other, would 
invalidate the pretensions of all, while, plainly nothing 
on the other hand, would tend so well as a perfeet har- 
mony among them (as if all their utterances were but 
echoes of the Divine voice), to stamp with the claims of 
a Divine communication whatever they might give out 
to the people, we may expect them all to agree with each 
other, and to work to each other ; and, consequently, to 
form an order by themselves. Thus does a priesthood 
naturally come into being, and organize itself ; and while 
a certain state of society subsists, thus does it naturally 
govern the people for good or for evil. And, truly, 
when an order of religious men, thus enjoying the supre- 
macy, have attained to it by a lawful use of the true 
religion, and are themselves holy men, seeking the glory 
of God, the salvation of souls, and the well-being of the 
society which they preside over ; as, for instance, (to 
mention a modern case), the Polynesian missionaries, — 
they are of infinite value, and can achieve wonders of 
good. 

But history shews that the sacerdotal order (though 
with many illustrious exceptions, of course) has resem- 
bled all other orders in this, that it has always sought 



140 



THE PRIEST. 



its own security and aggrandizement as its principal 
pursuit. Nay, the ministers of Christ have too long 
shewn the disposition to arrogate to themselves the place 
of God. The priesthood of the Romish Church repre- 
sents itself, to this day, as a mediatorial agency, and 
tries to persuade the faithful in that communion, that it 
is not from open revelation, or from the voice of reason 
and conscience, but from the utterances of the priest- 
hood alone, that the will of God is to be learned, and 
that it is through this channel alone that the favours of 
heaven are conferred. But, plainly, these extravagant 
pretensions in a priesthood must cease, wherever that 
priesthood is animated by the spirit of Christianity. The 
fact is, that, in the true religion, ever since the true 
worshippers have constituted nations, God has provided 
against all dangerous usurpations on the part of the 
priesthood. Nor need we wonder at this, since it has 
been every where proved, that excessive power is in- 
compatible with purity and spirituality on the part of 
those who enjoy it. 

Ever since true worshippers constituted nations, God 
has given a charter between the priesthood and the 
people, — a charter in which the privileges and duties of 
both are defined, so that neither can usurp or overbear 
the other, without sinning against God ; and this is one 
of the most striking peculiarities in the economics of 
true religion. During the Theocracy., the law of Moses 
was the charter. Under Christ, the gospel is. And in 
all the churches of the Reformation, the Bible is defer- 
red to, both by the ecclesiastic order and the people, as 
the standard of reference, and the charter between them. 
It is only since the Reformation, however, that we find 
the people referred by the ecclesiastics to a higher autho- 
rity than the utterances of their own order for the truth 
of what they advance. But these are views which will 



THE HINDU. 



141 



not be received merely by the statement of them. They 
demand a somewhat more full exposition. Let us, there- 
fore, see what an unchartered priesthood tends to. 
Hence, possibly, we may learn the necessity of a charter 
such as the Bible has just been described to be. 



THE HINDU. 

Nowhere do we find a priesthood more fully pronounced 
in all its arts, or more successful in all its objects, than 
in the country of Noah in the remotest antiquity to which 
we can ascend. Not that this fact is to be learned from 
the sacred history, for between the days of Noah and the 
call of Abraham, the Pentateuch contains only a very few 
notices of our race. And not that we pretend access to 
any other history reaching back to so remote a period. 
We derive evidence from another source. In the midst 
of that variety which distinguish all His works, the Creator 
has imparted to a certain region of the earth, but a little 
removed from that where Noah's own family appears to 
have resided, such a genial temperament, that it altogether 
contents its inhabitants, indisposes them towards change, 
and having speedily developed society to a certain degree, 
fixes it there and perpetuates it seemingly for ever. And 
from such a state of things (aided perhaps by the restric- 
tion of the people to a vegetable diet only, a politic law ' 
on the part of the priesthood, since such a diet tends to 
prevent energy in a people, and so. to make them easily 
governed), it has come to pass that the state of things 
framed and set a-going in that quarter, probably not many 
centuries after the flood, continues even to this day, 
more fully developed no doubt, but developed rather than 
changed. I allude to India and the Hindoos. 

Now in that region we find a priesthood (whether itself 



142 



THE HINDU. 



of Hindoo origin or not makes no difference) which has 
existed from the earliest ages, and from a most remote 
antiquity in India itself, and which has still been engaged 
in developing and perfecting its own organization, so that 
at the present day it may be taken as the type and beau 
ideal of a successful and self-constituted priesthood, and 
may be viewed as the limit which that order of society 
naturally tends to, and finds it possible to attain. And 
as there is no class of men so opposed to the views advo- 
cated in this work as such a priesthood (a class unhap- 
pily reigning, even in the present day, over a third part 
of the United Kingdom), I shall here solicit the reader's 
attention for a little to the consideration of the Brahmi- 
nical system, that he may be the better able to ascertain, 
with respect to the Romish system, what part of it is 
probably human, what part probably divine, and what the 
regard or disregard to be paid to Romish priests as mi- 
nisters of true or of false religion, and what the value or 
valuelessness of that uniformity in religion of which they 
boast as alone to be found with them. 

It will not be denied that Brahminism is an invention 
of man merely. And though it be granted that in the 
absence or impossibility of something better it may have 
served valuable purposes in India, it will not be maintained 
that the Church of Christ and modern Europe should be 
governed by Brahminism. On the contrary, we are 
accustomed to look upon the system that prevails in the 
east as bad in every feature. There are several points, 
however, in which the Brahminical priesthood, viewed 
simply as an institution, and keeping out of view the 
greater errors in religion with which it is associated, is 
more to be admired than that of Rome. But, before 
making such critical remarks, let us see what Brahminism 
is. 



THE BRAHMIN. 



143 



THE BRAHMIN. 

What then is a Brahmin — the beau-ideal of a thorough- 
ly educated, unrestrained, and successful priest? This 
cannot be better learned that from consulting the insti- 
tutes of Menu, a volume of the priesthood which instructs 
the people in all that the sacerdotal caste wish them to 
believe, and which is regarded by all Hindoos as divine. 
The following extracts will convey a sufficiently definite 
idea of what the Brahminical priesthood wish the people to 
believe respecting them, and in what position they desire 
to be held. Much more of the same kind, and which is 
equally instructive, will be found in the volume from 
which the following extracts are made, and which, as it 
forms one of the volumes of the works of Sir W. Jones, 
is easily accessible to every one. 

1. The Priesthood have the most divine pedigree^ and of 
all classes of society the greatest dignity. 

" That the human race may be multiplied, he (Menu) 
caused the Brahmin, the Cshatriya, the Vaisya, and the 
Sudra (so named from scripture, Protection,*Wealth, and 
Labour, and the names of the four castes, the religious, the 
military, the commercial, and the labouring) to proceed 
from his mouth, his arm, his thigh, and his foot." .... 
" Since the Brahmin sprang from the most excellent 
part, since he was the first born, and since he possesses 
the Veda (the scriptures) he is by right the chief of the 
whole creation." . . . . " The very birth of a Brahmin 
is a constant incarnation of Dherma, God of Justice, for 
the Brahmin is born to promote justice, and to procure 
ultimate happiness. ,, 

2. The Priesthood have a right to all property. 
" Whatever exists in the universe is all in effect, though 



144 



THE BRAHMIN. 



not in form, the wealth of the Brahmin, since the Brah- 
min is entitled to it all by his primogeniture and emi- 
nence in birth. 1 ' ..." The Brahmin eats but his own 
food, wears but his own apparel, and bestows but his own 
alms. Through the benevolence of the Brahmin, in- 
deed, other mortals enjoy life." ..." Let every man 
according to his ability give wealth to Brahmins de- 
tached from the world and learned in scripture. Such 
as give shall attain heaven after this life." 

3. The Civil Power must consult the Priesthood^ and go 

by its advice. 

" A king desirous of inspecting judicial proceedings, 
must enter his court of justice composed and sedate in 
his manner, together with Brahmins and councillors, who 
know how to give him advice." ..." Let the king de- 
cide cases justly, observing primaeval law (of which the 
Brahmins are the true depositories). But when he can- 
not inspect such affairs in person, let him appoint for the 
inspection of them a Brahmin of eminent learning. 1 ' 

4. The slightest offences against the Priesthood to be most 

severely punished. 

" If he (an once born man) mention (the twice born 
men or Brahmins) name and classes with contumely, as 
if he say Oh Devadatta, Thou refuse of Brahmins, an iron 
stile, ten fingers long, shall be thrust red-hot into his 
mouth. Should he, through pride, give instructions to 
the priests concerning their duty, let the king order 
some hot oil to be dropped into his mouth and ears." . . 
It is remarkable, however, that when the offender is one 
of their own order, the punishments they annex are 
wholly of a spiritual nature, thus, " A twice born man 
who barely assaults a Brahmin with intention to hurt 
him, will be whirled about for a century in the hell 



THE BRAHMIN. 



145 



named Tamisra." . . . . " But having smitten him in 
anger and by design, even with a blade of grass, he 
shall be born in one and twenty transmigrations from 
the wombs of impure quadrupeds." 

5, The crimes of the priesthood must be gently dealt with, 
and capital punishments must never be thought of. 

" No greater crime is known on earth than slaying a 
Brahmin, and the king, therefore, must not even form in 

his mind an idea of killing a priest Never shall 

the king slay a Brahmin, though convicted of all possible 
crimes. Let him banish the offender from his realm, 
but with all his property secure and his body unhurt. . . 
Ignominious torture is ordained instead of capital pun- 
ishment for an adulterer of the priestly class, where the 
punishment of the other classes may amount to the loss 
of life." 

6. The priesthood only dare perform the rites of religion, 
and they form the sole depositaries and expounders of 
the sacred books. 

" To Brahmins he (Menu) assigned the duties of read- 
ing the Veda, of teaching it, of sacrificing and assisting 
others to sacrifice, of giving alms if they be rich, and, if 
indigent, of receiving gifts." . . . " To declare the 
sacerdotal duties, and those of the other classes in due 
order, the sage Menu sprung from the self-existent, pro- 
mulgated this code of law, a code which must be studied 
with extreme care by every learned Brahmin, and fully 
explained to his disciples, but must be taught to no man 
of an inferior class." . . . "He who shall acquire 
knowledge of the Veda without the assent of his pre- 
ceptor, incurs the guilt of stealing the scripture, and shall 
sink to the regions of torment. . . . Surely he who 

N 



146 



THE BRAHMIN. 



declares the law to a servile man, and he who instructs 
him in the mode of expiating sin, except by the interven- 
tion of a priest, sinks with that very man into the hell 
called Asamvrita." 

7. The priesthood maintains the existence of a tradition of 
equal authority with the written word. 

" By Scruti, or Avhat was heard from above, is meant 
the Veda ; and by Smriti, or what was remembered from 
the beginning, the body of law. Those two must not be 
oppugned by heterodox arguments, since from those two 
proceed the whole system of duties." 

8. Those who believe and obey both shall attain heaven. 

" No doubt that man who shall follow the rules pre- 
scribed in the Scruti and in the Smriti, will acquire fame 
in this life, and in the next inexpressible happiness." 

9. Those who read heretical books, and deny the equal 
authority of tradition and of the written word, are to 
be viewed as atheists, and to be excommunicated. 

" Whatever man of the three highest classes, having 
addicted himself to heretical books, shall treat with con- 
tempt these two roots of law (the Scruti and the Smriti), 
must be driven, as an atheist and a scorner of revela- 
tion, from the company of the virtuous." 

10. There ought to be Mendicants, Eremites, Flagellants, 

and other self-tormentors, in the priesthood. 

" Each day let a Brahmin student receive his food by 
begging with due care from the houses of persons re- 
nowned for discharging their duties, and not deficient in 
performing the sacrifices which the Vedas ordain." . , . 

" Having thus remained in the order of a housekeeper 



THE BRAHMIN 



147 



as the law ordains, let the twice-born man, who had be- 
fore completed his studentship, dwell in a forest, his faith 
being firm, and his organs wholly subdued." 

" Let him (one order of them) wear a black antelope's 
hide or a vesture of bark ; let him bathe evening and 
morning ; let him suffer the hair of his head, his beard 
and his nails, to grow continually." . . . " His (an- 
other order of them) hair, nails, and beard being clipt, 
bearing with him a dish, a staff, and a waterpot, his whole 
mind being fixed on God, let him wander about continu- 
ally, without giving pain to animal or vegetable beings." 
. . . " In the hot season, let him sit exposed to five 
fires blazing around him, and the sun above him ; in the 
rains, let him stand uncovered, without even a mantle, 
where the clouds pour the heaviest showers ; in the cold 
season let him wear a humid vesture, and let him increase 
by degrees the austerity of his devotion." 

These extracts will serve to give a sufficient idea of a 
Brahmin and of the Brahminical system, which may, as I 
have shewn, be taken as the most fully developed type of 
what a self-constituted and unresisted priesthood tends to, 
where reformation is prevented, and time allowed for the 
full development of the system, and the complete subju- 
gation of all the other orders of society. 

But to give a just idea of the narrow and straitly- 
bound superstitions which these priests have imposed 
upon the people, — to tell how they have split the peo- 
ple down into mutually jealous castes, in order that the 
popular power might be spent upon itself, and thus 
their own supremacy easily maintained, — to shew how 
helpless they have made the people, and how completely 
they have vested in themselves all religious duties, in 
order that the people may be under the necessity of con- 
sulting them on every occasion, — to shew how complete- 



148 



THE BRAHMIN. 



Iv they have made the whole of piety to lie in the exact 
observance of ordinances of their own invention, which, 
of course, they pass off upon the people as the ordinances 
of God, — to shew how they have placed the whole of duty 
in obedience to their own authority, suppressing reason 
and conscience to the utmost in their power, — to enume- 
rate the various articles of diet (exclusively vegetable) 
to which the higher castes are restricted — the purifications 
enjoined for the living and the dead — the complicated and 
fantastical penances and expiations required — the virtue 
attached to the observance of the five sacraments — the 
purgatories and transmigrations invented for souls not 
fully purified at death — the image-worship and the com- 
plicated system of idolatry, and the oblations to departed 
saints and angels or demons, — all which, mainly for the 
purpose of aggrandizing their own order, they have built 
upon the sublime religion of the patriarchs, and in which 
they have long since involved the millions of India, — 
this would require volumes. 

Such has been the state of things in the East, from 
the earliest antiquity to which we can ascend, down to 
the present day. The priesthood, instead of continuing 
the ministers of a pure patriarchal religion, soon assumed 
a spiritual despotism ; soon practised upon the degenerate 
tendencies of the multitude, and made primaeval revela- 
tion of none effect through their traditions ; soon directed 
the minds of the devout, or at least suffered them to at- 
tach to created forms and figments of fancy, instead of 
the Almighty, the only living and true God. 

Yet, bad as Brahmins are, who will venture to say that 
things had not been worse without them ? When we con- 
demn any one class of men, let us not forget that the 
sentence of a just God is out against the whole race. 



THE PATRIARCH. 



149 



THE PATRIARCH. 



Now from this state of things, or rather a state of 
things tending rapidly to this, from Ur of the Chaldees. 
which, though we know not exactly where it was (nor 
even whether it was a place or a state of religious socie- 
ty), yet certainly lay far in the east, God calls Abraham 
and his family towards the west, takes him under the 
peculiar care of his providence and grace, imparts to him 
direct intimation of his will, and, in a word, rescues and 
restores, in his person and family, the true religion. And 
from this newly opened fountain of the will of God. 
which still continues to flow down to us in the page of 
Inspiration, what do we learn as to the catholicity of 
true religion ? Do we find a large place given to the 
complicated system then reigning in the East ? Do we 
find a positive precept given to regulate every proceed- 
ing, and straitly binding rules, to which all must conform 
on the pain of excommunication? Quite the reverse 
Though Abraham's name be so similar to that of the In- 
dian priesthood (a coincidence which has been made an 
argument for connecting the Patriarch with the Brah- 
mins), yet how different in every feature is his spirit 
from theirs ! How different the religion in which God 
builds him up, from that in which that priesthood has 
built itself up ! In the religion of Abraham all is true 
piety, true liberty. To him either the direct voice of 
God. or else reason and conscience, which are but the 
echoes of that voice in the inner man, are every thing. 
Except in the matter of sacrifices, which, as has been 
shewn, reason and conscience cannot regulate, Abraham 
is everywhere left to the guidance of these principles. 
He is the head of his family, and as such both a priest 
and a prince, and performs every office, both rivil and 



150 



THE PATRIARCH. 



sacerdotal. The faith and the spirit of enlightened piety 
which he enjoyed, were his unfailing guides. Though 
he was the greatest moral and religious hero that ever 
existed, yet he was a most considerate and sober-minded 
man. Even his faith was but a nobler sort of reason. 
It was indeed wholly a divine gift, and it was purely 
faith. But it was not a faith that was alone. It was 
a faith that brought forth fruit, by the use and in- 
fluence of reasonable considerations. Unlike the fanati- 
cal impulses of turgid imaginations, which will not fra- 
ternize with reason at all, Abraham's great deeds were 
all conducted by reason. His faith gave him first prin- 
ciples and energy of character. His reason gave him 
conduct. And thus, by their mutual and fraternal aid 
and guidance, Abraham always acted with admirable 
composure and always displayed a singularly happy com- 
bination of firmness and of tenderness. 

Thus, in reference to the offering up of Isaac, faith 
here gave him three great principles, without which he 
could not have gone one step (so that it may well be said, 
that " by faith Abraham offered up Isaac"). But his 
faith was not alone. His actual conduct was regulated 
by three arguments of reason, grounded on these three 
principles which faith inspired. Of these principles, the 
first was, that all God's commandments must be obeyed ; 
and to this, reason added, God has commanded me to sa- 
crifice Isaac, therefore I must do it. The second was. 
that all God's promises must be fulfilled ; and to this, his 
reason added, that, since God has promised that my race 
shall be gloriously continued through Isaac childless as yet, 
my son will be somehow preserved though I sacrifice him. 
The third was, that God is omnipotent ; and to this, rea- 
son added, Omnipotence can raise the dead, — I account 
that God is able to raise Isaac from the dead.* Thus did 
* Heb. xi. 17. 



ABRAHAM AND MELCIIISEDEC. 



151 



faith and reason beautifully fraternize in the mind of the 
Friend of God. And thus, while we derive from the 
patriarchal age one of the finest examples of moral mag- 
nanimity which history records, we learn also the means 
by which such magnanimity is to be attained.* 

Here, also, we have a fine illustration of the power of 
true faith to extend and exalt the intellect. When Abra- 
ham compared the former promises of his God, whom he 
knew to be altogether faithful, with His present command 
to offer Isaac in sacrifice, — to what did this seeming in- 
. compatibility lead him ? It awoke in him, as has just 
been stated, the idea of the resurrection, a doctrine which 
was not fully revealed till many ages after. And thus 
Abraham's faith, animating his reason, enabled him to 
anticipate, in this great discovery, all his contempora- 
ries by many generations. And so it is with faith ge- 
nerally, when faith is genuine, and truly linked in bro- 
therhood with reason. It makes the spirit far-seeing and 
strong. It ennobles man in every feature. 

But these subjects, however interesting in themselves, 
are too remotely connected with our inquiry to render 
it warrantable to pursue them farther. Let us, there- 
fore, proceed to notice that event in Abraham's life in 
which he displays the catholicity of true religion in a 
manner no less magnanimous than he shewed his faith, 
when he offered up Isaac. 

ABRAHAM AND MELCHISEDEC. 

Though Abraham was the called of God, he was not 
the only person in those parts who, like himself, was a 
patriarch, and enjoyed and administered the true religion. 
The Prince or King of Salem was another, in no respect 
Abraham's inferior, and in some respects greatly above 
* James ii. 22. 



152 



ABRAHAM AND MELCHISEDEC 



him. Melchisedec was the priest of the Most High God. 
Nor was this all. He was the type of the Messiah, of 
whom Abraham was only the remote progenitor. And 
it is truly delightful, and a fine example of the catho- 
licity of true religion, to observe the manner in which 
these great and good men proceed, when the providence 
of God brings them together. There are, indeed, some 
things respecting Melchisedec " which are hard to be 
explained;"* but whoever he was, it makes no differ- 
ence in the lesson which his meeting with Abraham is 
calculated to teach us. And what is that lesson ? Plainly 
this ; that when, by the events of Providence, two pious 
men, both of whose hearts are right with God, are brought 
together, they ought to recognise each other as brethren, 
and each treating with respect the creed and ritual of the 
other, both ought to enter upon that friendly and sacred 
communion which is meet for the sons of God. 

But what are the facts of this case ? When Melchisedec 
meets Abraham, does he begin their intercourse by reli- 
gious precognitions as to denominations, as to what points 
they were agreed on, and what points they differed on ? 
Does he consider an uniformity in all points between him- 
self and " the righteous man who came from the East,'"-f- as 
essential to their religious communion, and the first point 
to be ascertained ? Or does he, in the quality of supe- 
rior and priest, proceed to impose his own ritual upon 
Abraham? No: nothing like this. And how different from 
what we are accustomed to now ! Melchisedec, we are 
informed, brought out with him, when he himself came 
to meet Abraham, and before he had seen the Patriarch 
at all, the symbols of bread and wine, and, as soon as he 
met him, he presented them to him and blessed him. 
And forthwith the two men of God enjoyed a full reli- 
gious communion together, their great hearts overflowing 
* Heb. v. 11. t Isaiah xli. 29. 



ABRAHAM AND MELCHISEDEC. 



153 



with the love of God and of each other. Nor was all the 
openness of heart on the side of the King of Salem. 
Abraham in return, and without inquiring whether he 
who assumed these most exalted functions of the priest- 
hood had the genealogy of the sacerdotal order (which 
we know he had not*), but, perceiving his moral great- 
ness and superiority to himself in his presence and words, 
accepts his benediction, and in return presents him with 
a tithe of all his spoils. 

Such was the meeting of Abraham and Melchisedec. 
Nothing finer ever occurred in the subsequent history of 
the church. The patriarchal state, indeed, admits of all 
that is finest in religion and humanity. And when the 
Spirit of Inspiration led David to say, " The Lord loveth 
the gates of Zion more than the dwellings of Jacob," it 
was chiefly in respect of the fact, that from Zion should 
proceed the salvation that should be catholic, as may be 
seen from the psalm where these words occur, t But in 
the incident which has just been noticed, we have a fine 
example of the catholic spirit which the patriarchal state 
also tends to cherish. And this instance occurring in the 
church in that early epoch, and handed down to us, is of 
the greatest value to us ; not only for its own sake, as 
happening in the true church ; but from the generally 
admitted fact, that Christianity is more nearly related 
to the patriarchal religion, and is more truly a return 
to it and development of it, than of the peculiar econo- 
my which intervened between the patriarchal age and 
the birth of Christ. 

But except in the East, humanity, as has been already 
stated, is never stationary. Accordingly, after a time, 
the patriarchal constitution begins to change and to de- 
cay, even in the elect family. The race of Ham, j origi- 
nally defective in family feeling, as the sacred narra- 

* Heh. vii. 6. t Ps. lxxxvii. 2. J Gen. ix. 22. 



154 



THE EGYPTIANS. 



tive acquaints us, had long since, like that of Cain, si- 
milarly defective,* passed from the patriarchal or fa- 
mily constitution to that of the city under the heroic and 
lawless spirit of Nimrod,*|- or possibly under the pressure 
of the wild beasts which Nimrod's heroic spirit was en- 
gaged in extirpating. Thus, of Abraham's life, all the 
details are truly patriarchal and pastoral. When guests 
arrive, he runs to the flock, chooses a calf, and dresses it 
for them ;j and though wine was well known in the land 
in those days, he presents to them milk only. Isaac, his 
son, however, less a stranger than his father to the ha- 
bits of the effeminate Canaanites among whom he dwelt, 
makes use of wine ; and a kid from the flock is no longer 
dainty enough for him. He must have venison. § Nor 
is he content with being rich in flocks, he purchases land 
for agriculture from the king of Gerar.|| In a word, the 
constitution of the family is changing even in the days of 
Isaac ; and now, in the days of Jacob, the time is come 
when the family of Abraham must part with the patri- 
archal constitution altogether, and, according to a pro- 
ceeding very usual in the course of Providence, must, by 
submitting to evil itself, become a blessing to the whole 
world. 

THE EGYPTIANS. 

There is a famine in the land where the posterity of 
Abraham sojourn, Jacob his grandson being patriarch ; 
and how is the elect family to be preserved ? They go 
down into Egypt. And here they find an asylum already 
provided for them ; nay, we may say, honourably pur- 
chased. For Joseph, one of themselves, was there before 
them, and, divinely assisted, had availed himself of the 

* Gen. iv. 8. t Gen. ix. 8. % Gen. xviii. 

§ Gen. xxvii. II Gen. xxvi. 12. 



THE EGYPTIANS. 



155 



general famine to consolidate and unite the whole king- 
dom of Egypt, previously consisting of many conflicting 
independencies, into one great nation. To him, there- 
fore, Pharaoh was deeply indebted for the new stability 
he had imparted to the monarchy. Nor was Pharaoh his 
only debtor. The whole nation owed him much for their 
better prospects of peace for the future, as well as for 
corn during the famine in the mean time. Joseph's bre- 
thren then were welcome into the land of Egypt, in as 
far at least as an immediate reception is considered. 

But what sort of people were the Egyptians among 
whom the chosen people were thus to be immersed for a 
season, if not for ever ? This is an interesting question, 
and though of late years the subject has begun to be at- 
tended to in such a manner as would enable us to an- 
swer it satisfactorily, it is enough to mention here that 
more could be said in favour of the Egyptians than of 
any other nation of that epoch. We are ourselves deeply 
indebted to ancient Egypt. In fact to her Greece owed 
almost every thing at first, and Rome to Greece, and we 
to Rome. Egypt therefore has claims on us. Nor this 
in the aspect of profane history only ; or in reference to 
the transmission of the arts and sciences merely. Egypt 
was the scene of God's wonders, and next to God him- 
self, Egypt had the making of Moses. And bad as that 
country was in a religious point of view during the so- 
journ of the Israelites, it appears that all the surround- 
ing nations were far worse. Thus while the Mosaic law 
inculcates that others must be shunned and even exter- 
minated in order that the true religion might live, it for- 
bids the Israelites to hate the Egyptians. And while it en- 
joins that the descendants of the surrounding nations 
shall not be admitted into the congregation of the Lord 
till the tenth or twelfth generation, some of them never, 
it admits the Egyptian in the third. The martyr Ste- 



156 



THE EGYPTIANS. 



phen, in like manner, when demonstrating that it said 
nothing against the true greatness of Jesus Christ, that 
he was rejected by his contemporaries and his coun- 
trymen, since Moses himself, in whom they boasted, was 
almost as barbarously treated by their fathers in his life- 
time, mentions it as a most eminent feature in the great- 
ness of Moses, that he was educated at the court of Pha- 
raoh, and was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyp- 
tians, a statement with which he immediately connects 
the fact of Moses being mighty in words and in deeds.* 
Let us not, therefore, think too meanly of the Egyptians 
— let us not fancy that the descent of the -Israelites into 
Egypt was a mere accident. It was designed by God to 
serve great purposes. 

But whatever may be said in favour of Egypt, there, 
too, as in every populous country all over the East, 
the purity of religion was lost. The land was overrun 
with a priesthood, if not in every respect the same, yet 
in spirit the same as that from which Abraham was called. 
And the whole of the popular religion at least, as is usual 
in such a case, had degenerated in their hands into un- 
edifying ceremonial. We must not, indeed, form our 
opinion of the religion of the ancient Egyptians from the 
Roman satirist, who ridicules their onion-worship ; or 
from our own superficial conceptions. As commonly re- 
presented, the rites and ceremonies, and even the objects 
of worship of the ancient Egyptians, seem absurd and 
even ridiculous ; but when A^iewed in a certain light, which, 
however, we have lost, they seem, on the contrarj^, to have 
been so engaging that even Joseph speaks of the cup 
whereby he divined, as if he too had been carried away 
by the mystic divinations and allurements of priestcraft. 

* Acts vii. 22. 



THE ISRAELITES. 



157 



THE ISRAELITES. 

But if even Joseph himself, so pure and so heavenly- 
minded, and who had learned in his youth the true patri- 
archal religion of his father's house — if even Joseph had al- 
ready felt the mystic charm of the rites and ceremonies 
which the sacerdotal art everywhere invents to advance 
its own ascendancy, what will have become of the Israel- 
ites when they shall have been domesticated in Egypt for 
generations, when their fathers, who brought the true re- 
ligion with them from Syria, shall have been dead and 
forgotten ; especially when we consider that, as might be 
expected, they are now slaves of the powerful Egyptians, 
and must of course be kept in a state of ignorance as com- 
plete as possible, which the Egyptians were too politic not 
to know to be the state most favourable to subjection ? If 
the Egyptians really were the learned, powerful, and po- 
litic people, which there is every reason to believe they 
were, are we not to expect that they shall have damped, 
in every conceivable way, the minds of the Israelites until 
they have quenched all true knowledge and every noble 
sentiment ? And, more especially, since the religion of the 
true God must doubtless have been an object of terror to 
them, as every thing is which is not understood ; are we 
not to expect that the priesthood shall have practised 
upon the successive generations of Israelitish children 
till they have replaced the truth of God with their own 
superstitions, and brought the Israelites both soul and 
body into bondage ? To do this were doubtless very bad on 
the part of the Egyptians. Still it is only what all people 
in the like circumstances would have attempted. And if 
the Egyptians succeeded while others have failed, it was 
only because they were more equal to their attempts than 
others, not because they were more wicked. 



158 



god's choice. 



god's choice. 

But let the Israelites be now immersed in all the de- 
gradation which hereditary slavery entails, and in all 
the lowest superstitions which an Egyptian priest can 
teach, — let them be naturally a rebellious and stiff- 
necked race,— these are no difficulties to God, — no ob- 
stacles in the way of his purposes regarding his people. 
Nay, their moral weakness and degradation, instead of 
forming a reason why God should decline them or cast 
them off, forms rather a reason why He should select 
them as a race, and choose them at that very moment, 
both to preserve the true religion, when all other nations 
had lost it, and to give birth to the Redeemer of all 
mankind. God is not like man, under the necessity of 
choosing the best and most competent to effectuate His 
plans. He can make any one do all His will. Were He, 
indeed, to choose the best and most competent, it would 
always leave it a question, how much of what was 
achieved was to be ascribed to God, — how much to man. 
And in this case, as men's prepossessions are naturally 
in their own favour, but little would generally be ascribed 
to God ; and thus the truth of the matter would be ob- 
scured, a sense of God would be lost, and consequently 
all true piety along with it. Therefore, in the forcible 
language of St Paul, " God chooses the foolish things of 
the world to confound the wise, and the weak things to 
confound the things that are mighty, and base things of 
the world, and things that are despised, doth God choose ; 
yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things 
that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence." * 

Nor was it only in the choice of the Israelites that this 
great principle was illustrated. It was remarkably illus- 
* 1 Cor. i. 27. 



THE NECESSITY. 



159 



trated in all that relates to the Redeemer himself. 
Though truly the Son of God, a woman was chosen to 
be his mother ; and that not a princess, but a virgin in 
humble life, betrothed to a carpenter. And as to his 
death, not a bed of state, or the glorious hour of vic- 
tory was his. He died the death reserved for felon- 
slaves. He was crucified. And so, in all that was His 
between his birth and his death, God chose the things 
which were most despised among men for his walk. 
Need we wonder, then, if, in the former dispensation, 
the Jews were chosen as God's peculiar people ? Was 
their present degeneracy, now that they were so re- 
duced in all but number under Egyptian policy, a reason 
why God should fail to fulfil the promise made to their 
magnanimous progenitor ? Nay, rather let them be be- 
loved for their father's sake. Nothing is difficult to God. 
The necessities of the case do, indeed, always give the 
form to His manner of proceeding. But never can the 
case of man become so desperate, as to prevent God 
from doing all His will. 

It is altogether wonderful what He has done by the 
Jews already ; and yet it is not unwarrantable to believe 
that by them He will do greater wonders still. Surely 
it is well that Christians are now bending their sympa- 
thies, in good earnest, to the forlorn Israelites. How 
many prophesies, full of the promise of their glory, still 
remain unfulfilled ! How high the privilege to help their 
fulfilment forward ! 

Meantime, let us return to the land of Egypt. 



THE NECESSITY. 

The Israelites must no longer be bondsmen. Jehovah 
is a God who breaketh the bands of the yoke of His 



160 



THE NECESSITY. 



people, and maketh them to walk upright.* The 
chosen race must be rescued, and carried out of Egypt. 
And to secure their perpetuity as a nation, till the time 
arrive when the Messiah may be born, they must be 
built up into a nation apart, and in a manner, be hid 
from all other nations, except those whom they shall be 
able to subdue, t With their rescue the true religion 
must also be restored to them, and by its side a heroic 
spirit must be awoke in their breasts ; which, in the first 
instance, must take its outgoings, in devoting the ene- 
mies of that religion to destruction ; and afterwards, 
when the Messiah is come, must be transformed into a 
spirit of self-devotion to the service of God and the love 
of man. 

But since their rescue is a measure of necessity, and 
since the true religion admits of a form suited to every 
state of the human soul, from the most abject to the 
noblest, are we not to expect some new dispensation, 
suited to the peculiar circumstances of the afflicted and 
degraded population whom it is designed to encourage, 
to regulate, and to save ? The patriarchal religion, 
adapted to the contemplative lives of the fathers of 
individualized rural families, — a religion all simplicity, 
all spirituality, all consisting in the exercise of reflec- 
tion, and in the spontaneous devotion of the heart, 
would, plainly, never do for a mass of human crea- 
tures just emancipated from a state of slavery under 
idolatrous masters, who had lorded it over them for 
many generations. 

That the Israelites actually were in a most degraded 
state in religion, not less than in natural spirit, Scripture,^ 

* Lev. xxxii. 13. 

+ This is, indeed, language in which Josephus, their great historian, 
describes them. 
X Josh. xxiv. 14. Ezek. xx. 7. 



THE NECESSITY. 



161 



as well as their whole history in the wilderness, as- 
sures us. They were living in idolatry, and they had 
lost the natural courage of men. Plainly, they could 
not have been affected in any degree of a religion so 
simple and so spiritual as that of the patriarchs. Nay, 
so difficult was it to impress them with any right notion 
of the true God, that not all the miracles which Moses 
wrought in their interest in Egypt, — not their miraculous 
Exodus, — nothing short of the destruction of Pharaoh's 
host in the Red Sea, could bring them to believe and 
confess that Jehovah was God. In a word, reason and 
conscience with them were good for little or nothing. And 
little or nothing, in the meantime, at least, could be en- 
trusted to these principles. What, then, was to be done \ 
Plainly, it is to be expected that their want of wisdom 
to devise, and of principle to adhere to what is right, 
will be divinely supplied by a code of positive institutes ; 
and because, when judgment upon evil works is not 
executed speedily, the heart is apt to continue to be 
set upon doing evil, it is also to be expected that, in the 
forthcoming code of laws, rewards and punishments 
as immediate as possible, will be annexed. It is to be 
expected, also, that their incapacity for a simple and 
spiritual worship will be met, by the spiritualities of re- 
ligion, being clothed in a material and visible symbolism, 
which may engage the heart through the delights of the 
eye, and the pleasures of the imagination. But such a 
form of religion necessarily demands an ample,, and a 
regularly constituted and united priesthood, to admi- 
nister it. 

These three things, therefore, do the circumstances of 
the Israelites, when about to be rescued from Egypt, 
lead us to expect in a religion that will be suited to 
them ; and these three things, therefore, do the wisdom 
and goodness of God lead us to expect, in the Mosaic 

o 



162 



MOSES. 



dispensation, first, An ample code of positive institutions 
and precepts; secondly, A ritual composed, in a great 
measure, of a significant, but palpable and beautiful sym- 
bolism ; and, thirdly, A regularly constituted priesthood, 
which may administer those laws and that ritual, and 
teach the people religion. Such is the form of the Mosaic 
dispensation, which reason, contemplating the character 
of God, and the circumstances of the case, leads us to 
expect. 

And what was the Mosaic dispensation in point of 
fact ? The reader has only to study the books of Moses, 
in order to see realized all that enlightened reason leads 
him to expect regarding it. 



MOSES. 

And, here, how pleasing would it be to transport the 
reader to the banks of the Nilfe, where the infant Moses 
is lying among the bulrushes, cradled in the little ark in 
which his heaven-directed mother laid him, — his sister, 
mean time, watching over him in the distance ; while 
Pharaoh's daughter comes to the place to bathe, and 
discovers the beautiful child. There is nothing finer, 
nor so fine, as the history of Moses, in the whole world 
of fiction. But, in this place, it must suffice to say, 
that Moses, brought up as the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 
instructed in the sacerdotal religion, and all the wisdom 
of Egypt on the one hand, and in the patriarchal reli- 
gion, by Jethro, on the other, is called and inspired for 
the mighty achievement of framing a Theocracy for the 
Israelites. 

And, inspecting the institutions which Moses was in- 
spired to make, we find that they correspond exactly 
with those which piety and reason anticipate. There we 



MOSES. 



163 



find a code of laws and positive institutions, so ample 
and so excellent, that well might Moses say of it as he 
does.* " It is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off. 
It is not in heaven, that thou shouldst say, Who will 
go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we 
may hear and do it ? (which is all that philosophy could 
ever say as yet). Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou 
shouldst say, Who will go over the sea for us, and bring 
it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it ? But the 
word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth and in thy 
heart, that thou mayst do it." The children of Israel 
were not called upon to discover or develope a ritual 
for themselves. They were not capable of that. All 
was arranged, — all was done for them. They had only 
to hear and obey. And, looking unto the institutions and 
ritual that were prepared for them, we find there a 
system of holy and pure religion embodied in a visible 
symbolism, at once most beautiful and significant ; and 
which, though it was but materialism after all,t yet 
never concealed, but rather gave a form to the spiritual 
truths which it was designed to prefigure and to typify. 
It was also signally distinguished from all other religions 
then extant, in that it admitted neither images, nor hie- 
roglyphics, nor mysteries, nor divination, in any form ; 
in a word, none of the devices of priestcraft. Volumes 
would not be sufficient to tell how much there is to ad- 
mire in this dispensation, or to point out all the features 
in which it contrasts itself beautifully with those dege- 
nerate systems which co- existed along with it, whether 
in India, Chaldea, Canaan, or Egypt. 

But though the Mosaic institutes admitted of none of 
the arts of priestcraft, its most conspicuous and its most 
admirable feature is, its regularly ordained priesthood. 
And this is a subject which calls for a few remarks some- 

* Deut. xxx. 1 1: f Heb. ix. 10. 



164 



MOSES. 



what more in detail. It has been already affirmed as a 
general truth, and in reference to India it has been shewn, 
that a priesthood ever tends to assume the supremacy, 
which, though sometimes very useful, even when self- 
assumed, is yet, generally, to be condemned as unfavour- 
able to spirituality of religion, and all true liberty both 
sacred and civil. Let us mark, then, how beautifully the 
advantages to be derived from a priesthood are secured, 
and the evils prevented, in the Jewish Theocracy. And 
this may be easily told. In a word, the Mosaic priesthood, 
while it is appointed, is also chartered. The law for the 
priests is laid down with as much exactness as the law 
for the people.* 

And, in reference to the position assigned to the sacer- 
dotal order in the community, we have to remark also, 
that not only were the laws for it fully and explicitly 
laid down, but that the priesthood was not the class 
which was nearest to God, and communicated most im- 
mediately with him. Neither was the lawgiver himself 
a priest. There was an order possessing a higher autho- 
rity than the priesthood, and Moses was one of that order. 
He was a prophet. And, with casual intermissions, this 
superior order was divinely maintained all along ] and its 
calling was to regulate and reprove the priesthood, as 
well as every other class of the community. Nor was 
this higher function of the prophets unsupported by cere- 
monies designed to teach it. Thus, to shew, in reference 
to the priesthood, that they could not be self-constituted, 
and were not free to pretend to immediate communica- 

* It is, indeed, delightful to see, that, when all around was but the 
exercise of arbitrary power, most frequently carried on by lawless 
tyranny, or exterminating wars and rebellions, the principle of a 
charter between the government and the governed was well under- 
stood, and acted upon among the people of God. Thus, Samuel would 
not anoint Saul king, till the charter between him and his subjects 
was first settled* by both parties. 



MOSES. 



165 



tions with God, and so to raise themselves above all law, 
as every where in the East, the heathen priesthoods have 
done, the priests among the Jews had their ears, fingers, 
and toes, touched by the blood of the sacrifice at their 
consecration, as much as to say, that they must listen to 
the law given them, and be active in obeying it. 

Nor was it only during the days of Moses, that the 
priesthood was thus regulated. The same constitution 
was intended to be continued during all the subsequent 
history of the Jews, till the advent of the Messiah him- 
self. Prophets were raised up, from time to time, whose 
calling was higher than that even of the high priest him- 
self. And though they neither belonged to the sacerdo- 
tal class, nor had received an education in the temple, 
on them the Spirit of God rested. Thus they were clearly 
demonstrated to be nearer to Jehovah than the priest- 
hood ; and thus they taught the people with a more au- 
thoritative voice, and from a higher vantage ground. 

But while the priesthood were thus prevented from 
the exercise of those exclusive pretensions in the admi- 
nistration of religious instruction which the sacerdotal 
order is every where too prone to affect, so were the 
prophets prevented from supposing, that to them alone 
were divine communications made ; and thus were they, 
too, kept from that despotism which the possession of 
exclusive privileges is so apt to engender every where. 
Nor on the prophets only did the Spirit rest. He some- 
times endowed inferior orders with miraculous gifts. 
Thus, when the congregation lusted after flesh in the 
wilderness, the Spirit rested on the seventy elders, so 
that not only those who had assembled in the court of 
the tabernacle prophesied, but even two who had re- 
mained in the camp.* This was, indeed, a state of things 
which appeared to Joshua, so disorderly, that he entreat- 
• Numb. xi. 26. See also 1 Sam. xix. 20. 



166 



THE JUDGES. 



ed Moses to forbid them. But what was the answer of 
the great prophet ? " Moses said unto him, Enviest 
thou for my sake. I would that all the Lord's people 
were prophets, and that the Lord would put his Spirit 
upon them." An answer in which we cannot fail to 
observe a resemblance to that which our Saviour gave, 
in similar circumstances, to James and John.* And both 
of which unite in teaching us, that though exclusiveness 
in religion be frequently, as in the case of Joshua, James, 
and John, the error of great and good men, yet it is not 
the spirit either of Moses or of Christ. 

THE JUDGES. 

But, besides the Prophets, the people of God were fa- 
voured with another institution, calculated in a remark- 
able manner to prevent all usurpation and all undue in- 
fluence and authority on the part of the priesthood. After 
the death of Moses, God gave the Israelites a succession 
of heroes, under the name of Judges. And these Judges 
being at once devoted to the honour of Jehovah, and ani- 
mated by the heroic spirit (which, since persuasion was 
out of the question, was the only engine that could sub- 
due the abominable idolatry of the priests and worship- 
pers of Baal, which then filled the land of promise), served 
admirably to attract and engage the hearts of the people, 
and to sustain them above that superstitious tendency 
which had already made all the surrounding nations an 
easy prey to their designing priests. The surrounding- 
nations had nothing but their priesthoods to look to, for 
guidance in every thing ; and they, of course, always acted 
as men of the world do, that is, chiefly for their own aggran- 
dizement. But for their aggrandizement, nothing could 
* Luke ix. 50. 



THE JUDGES. 



167 



be so favourable as to leave the masses, whose unconditional 
submission they sought, to plunge as deeply as possible in 
ignorance, superstition, and voluptuous indulgence ; for 
these things, especially the last, render a people weak 
and effeminate, and easily governed by authority, how- 
ever arbitrary. And these base tendencies the surrounding 
priesthoods did not scruple to encourage. And they suc- 
ceeded. And hence the wickedness and abominations of 
the Canaanitish nations, on account of which they were 
driven out.* But such a policy in the Levitical priesthood, 
though that order had had a mind for it, and such moral 
abandonment and effeminacy in the masses, were prevented 
in the case of the Israelites by the existence of the Judges. 
The calling of these chiefs was to awake and sustain the 
heroic spirit. But this spirit is, of all possible frames of 
mind, the most opposed to superstition and effeminacy ; 
and hence its value, in certain circumstances, as, for in- 
stance, in the times when it was divinely awoke. For, 
while the surrounding nations by their criminal indul- 
gences in the impure worship of Astoroth, had become 
weak and pusillanimous to the last degree (and if easy 
to be governed by their own idolatrous priests, who served 
out these indulgences to them, also easy to be subdued 
by the Israelites, though they were but a handful in com- 
parison), the people of God continued comparatively 
pure and magnanimous. 

The Judges, also, by the infallible tokens of a divine 
commission, which they could shew to the priesthood, as 
the warrant for their heroic designs and achievements, 
tended many ways to sustain the character of the sacer- 
dotal order ; especially by giving it, to feel the necessity 
of maintaining the spiritual power in a state of as great 
efficiency as possible, to match the temporal, which was 
thus careering above their enemies, and near to God. 
* Dent. ix. 4. 



168 



THE LEVITES. 



In a word, each estate in the realm was calculated to sus- 
tain another. And thus, as an eagle stirreth up her nest, 
and hovereth over her young, and spreadeth her wing's, 
taketh them up and beareth them on her pinions, God 
sustained his people and led them, until he planted them 
securely in the land of promise. And here let us remark, 
in passing, that in this promise there was not a blessing 
to the posterity of Abraham according to the flesh only, 
as is commonly thought. There was a higher blessing 
to his posterity according to the faith ; for Syria, the 
land of promise, is as it were the centre of the whole 
world, the keystone which unites Europe with Asia, the 
telegraph station between the East and the West, the re- 
gion above all others desirable for the true light to shine 
from, for the sun of righteousness to arise in, and thence 
to spread those beams which were to enlighten the Gen- 
tiles all round, and be a salvation to the ends of the 
earth.* 

THE LEVITES. 

But a succession of prophets, standing aloof from the 
priesthood, and teaching the will of God from a higher 
eminence, and a greater nearness to God than the priests, 
and a succession of judges, executing the will of God by 
heroic deeds, and thus securing the admiration of the people, 
and attaching them to them, were not the only provi- 
sions made during the theocracy, for the security of true 
liberty to the people, and the prevention of a spiritual des- 
potism on the part of the priesthood. Another institu- 
tion, calculated to produce the same results, was the part- 
ing of the sacerdotal class into two orders, viz. priests and 
levites. Had the whole tribe been priests, their power 
would have been much greater ; and supremacy much 
* Is. xlix. 6. 



THE LEVITES. 



169 



more easily attainable. But the Levites prevented the 
undue ascendency of the priests. They formed a mid- 
dle term, a link between the priesthood and the people, 
their functions continually bringing them into contact 
with both. And thus they effectually prevented the 
priesthood from insulating itself from the mass of the 
people, and from forming a caste ; as a priesthood is too 
apt to do, and has done every where else in the East. 
In consequence of this arrangement, we do indeed some- 
times find no small degree of confusion among the dif- 
ferent orders of the state ; and more especially, on seve- 
ral critical occasions, we find the priesthood gaining the 
supremacy ; as the spiritual power naturally tends to do. 
of course, when there is not equal spiritual power on the 
part of the people. But this was not to be regretted on 
the occasions on which it occurred. The nation never 
had chiefs to whom it owed more in the junctures when 
they lived, than Samuel, and the Asmonean Princes, 
though both equally were of the tribe of Levi. But such 
a state of things never continued long, nor had a happy 
issue. And, to balance it on the other hand, princes 
who did not belong to the sacerdotal order at all, did 
sometimes perform functions and actions proper to the 
priesthood only. Even David, when he was an hungered, 
and they that were with him, entered into the house of 
God, and did eat the shew bread, which was not lawful 
for him to eat, neither for them that were with him, but 
only for the priests.* 

These events in the history of the Mosaic economy 
are apt to appear of but little value to us now. But the 
state of the case is far otherwise when they are viewed 
in the light of collateral events, and considered by the 
philosophy of history. In this point of view they are 
most important. Nothing of the kind that has been men- 
* Matt. xii. 3. 

p 



170 



THE LEVITES. 



tioned, had ever happened in the world before. All 
around and every where else, the slightest interference 
with the functions of the priesthood, or with their supre- 
macy, was deemed the greatest of crimes, and was punish- 
ed as such. The details which have been noticed then, 
in the constitution and history of the chosen people, are 
most instructive as to the place which God designs that 
a priesthood should occupy in such a state of society, and 
of the human mind, as prevailed during the theocracy. 
They shew, that even where a priesthood, as influential 
as is at all compatible with the interests of true religion, 
is most desirable, and where, in fact, it exists by the ap- 
pointment of God himself, still there must be another 
authority, which shall not be amenable to the priesthood 
for its proceedings, which, however just in their cause, 
and happy in their issue, the sacerdotal order might be 
disposed to visit too severely, as infringements on their 
exclusive privileges. 

In conclusion, we see in the Levitical priesthood, one 
of the finest displays of divine wisdom which the history 
of man presents, at once for investing with high autho- 
rity, an order of men unquestionably of the greatest va- 
lue to the well-being of every community ; but yet, for 
so limiting that authority, that, not without open disobe- 
dience to God, and a violation of the constitution of the 
state, as well as at great personal risk, could the priest- 
hood rise into that irresponsible supremacy, which hea- 
then priesthoods have almost every where succeeded in 
attaining, and which the priesthood of the Church of 
Rome had all but accomplished, when it was ruined by 
its own arrogance, which the heroic spirit of the feudal 
nations could not brook. 

And now it would be a not ungrateful task to follow 
the Israelites in their many wanderings, and to mark the 
wisdom as well as the goodness of Jehovah, in all that 



JETHRO. 



171 



He called them to be, to do, and to suffer. But such de- 
tails are only remotely connected with the object of this 
work. No inconsiderable step has been made, however, 
if it appear from what has been shewn, that, even during 
the theocracy, the priesthood was chartered and limited, 
and had no exclusive right, either to dictate arbitrarily 
to the people on the subject of religion, or to make posi- 
tive institutes of their own. Many institutions were made, 
however ; and let it be granted that the spirit of these in - 
stitutions implied an uniformity over all, in the practice 
of religion. It was, indeed, in point of fact, more gene - 
rally otherwise. But this need not be insisted in. Let 
an universal uniformity, in reference to the Mosaic dis- 
pensation, be granted. It will afterwards appear whether 
this makes for or against the views of this work. Here 
we must pass on. 

JETHRO. 

Let us, however, notice one event which happened 
almost at the beginning of the wanderings of the Israel- 
ites, which bears directly upon the question, whether, in 
order to a true communion of pious men, there must be 
an uniformity over all, or whether an unity in the spirit 
of true religion, though there be variety in external 
forms, be not enough. I allude to the meeting of Moses 
and J ethro in the wilderness. And what does this meet- 
'ng prove ? Does it not shew most clearly that all pecu- 
liar as the Mosaic dispensation was, yet, when rightly 
understood, it admitted fully of the catholicity of true 
religion ? For what were the circumstances of the case ? 
Jethro was a patriarch residing over his family and de- 
pendents in a part of Arabia, not far distant from that 
which the Israelites were to pass through. In our public 
version of the Bible he is called the priest of Midian, but it 



172 



JETHRO. 



is well known that the Hebrew word here rendered priest 
signifies also prince, and that Jethro might equally well 
have been called the prince of Median. He was, in fact, 
both. He was a patriarch ; and although in Egypt, on the 
western side of the Red Sea, humanity had long since left 
the patriarchal constitution and the purity of the patriar- 
chal religion, yet, in the land of Median, both seem to 
have existed still. And Jethro was in every point of 
view worthy of religious communion with the chosen peo- 
ple of God. Well, this he fully enjoyed when they met. 
Notwithstanding the great differences in religious circum- 
stances of the two parties, nothing could be more conge- 
nial than their intercourse. Nor was the interchange of 
thought and feeling between them of a friendly and secu- 
lar character only. It was of a religious nature also. In 
order to be convinced of this, it is only necessary to 
peruse the passage of Exodus,* where their interview is 
recorded. It is thus concluded : — " And Jethro, Moses' 
father-in-law, took a burnt-offering and sacrifices for 
God ; and Aaron came, and all the elders of Israel, to 
eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God." In 
other words, the Jewish high priest and the whole repre- 
sentatives of the congregation joined cordially in commu- 
nion with these stranger but pious Midianites. Not one 
stood aloof. All united. Such was the meeting of Moses 
and Jethro. It reminds us of the meeting of Abraham 
and Melchiseclec. Both are most beautiful displays of the 
catholic spirit of true religion. Both teach most expressly 
that wherever we find true religion, the fear of God, and 
personal piety, there we find the just grounds of evangeli- 
cal intercourse, esteem, and love, however considerable 
the difference in externals, whether of language, country, 
or religious forms. Both teach that there may be an or- 
dained priesthood without an exclusive spirit, and that 
* Exod. xviii. 12. 



JETHRO. 



173 



ministers of religion of different denominations, and their 
people along with them, may and ought to preserve the 
unity of spirit in the bonds of peace, may and ought to 
meet each other as Christian brethren, each esteeming 
another better than himself,* each esteeming all upon a 
footing of equal recognition and honour. 

In these cases, however, in the ancient church, and in 
all similar cases, the grace of God has much to do before 
such a beautiful result can be obtained. And especially 
with respect to the sacred order, as its spiritual privileges 
in general are greater than those of the other classes of 
the community, so, in this particular matter, are its trials 
greater. Instead of an open-heartedness to religious 
communion*with all who love the Lord Jesus, the sacer- 
dotal spirit is quite of another stamp ; and, therefore, it 
happens too generally, that instead of being the first, 
priests and even pastors who differ are the last to agree. 
Instead " of being examples to their flocks,"-}- like Abra- 
ham, Melchisedec, Moses, and Jethro, they are too often 
the hinderance and the reproach each of his own congre- 
gation or church. And this not so much because each is 
in ail things behind others who see him to be wrong in 
this particular, or because he is either naturally as a 
man, or privately as a Christian, of an exclusive spirit ; 
but because he is of the sacerdotal order, and feels the 
dignity of his calling, and is betrayed by this feeling into 
a spirit of exclusiveness and despotism, through want of 
grace proportional. The spirit of James and John in the 
early days of their ministry, is too apt to be that of their 
successors all their days. Nothing but the spirit of Christ 
can keep the zealous from preaching by fire. T-o rest 
satisfied simply in turning away from those who will 
not receive us, and in shaking off the dust of their city 
from our shoes, and to leave altogether our own justinea- 
* Phil. ii. 3. . t 1 Peter v. 3. 



174 



THE CONSTITUTION. 



tion and their condemnation to the judgment, is what 
our office wholly indisposes us for, and nothing but emi- 
nent grace can enable us to do it. And let not these 
remarks be taken amiss by the clergy, since the author 
thus does not scruple to identify himself with the order, 
one of whose tendencies he thus condemns. 



THE CONSTITUTION. 



The sketch of sacred history, which we are now taking, 
would be equally available for illustrating the catholicity 
of good civil government, did that subject lie within our 
sphere. The doctrine of unity of spirit in variety of form, 
is every where illustrated in the proceedings of Provi- 
dence, whether in regulating the economy of nature or 
the constitution of human society. Of this we have a 
remarkable instance in the epoch of history which we 
have now hurriedly glanced at. Thus God gave the 
Egyptians one constitution through Joseph, the Israelites 
another through Moses. The God who gave both was 
one. The spirit of both was one, and yet the form of the 
one differed widely from that of the other. And, in fact, 
it was only by instituting such a difference in form, that 
the unity of spirit and of object in reference to both could 
be manifested and maintained. For when two people 
differ from each other in their civilization, manners, moral 
condition, and moral diseases, then, in order that any 
proposed result, as, for instance, the best state of moral 
health, may be attained, the appliances, the medicines, 
must plainly be different in the two cases. And so it was 
in reference to Egypt and Israel. In Egypt, before 
Joseph's day, a multitude of independent chiefs or princes 
kept the nation always disunited, always in fragments, 
an<L consequently, always weak, exposed> and unhappy. 



THE CONSTITUTION. 



175 



What was necessary for the strength and stability of the 
nation, and the happiness of the Egyptian people, was 
unity and centralization of the government. But in 
order to this, the power of its many independent tribes 
and princedoms must be reduced. Accordingly, Joseph, 
divinely assisted, and with corn as his weapon, reduced 
all the independences into one great nation, and united 
all its princes as subjects of Pharaoh. This did Joseph 
under God" for Egypt ; and hence, in a great measure, if 
not altogether, the greatness of that nation above the 
other nations of antiquity. 

God's dealings with the Israelites, on the other hand, 
were altogether different from this ; and that just because 
their moral condition and their wants were altogether 
different. Instead of being the spirited vassals of inde- 
pendent princes, whom a famine must humble before they 
would receive a good and a united government, the Israel- 
ites were abject slaves, who would take nothing upon 
themselves, and who needed to be miraculously fed by food 
from heaven. Instead of being disposed to take any share 
in the government, or to consider the difficult times that 
Moses had to deal with, they merely cried out against 
their ruler for every evil that befel them. Such was their 
case. It contrasted in every feature with that of the spi- 
rited Egyptians. Instead of being subdued, therefore, 
the Israelites needed rather to be taught the difficulty 
of governing, by each man having something given him 
to do. Their character needed to be developed by 
the dignity and responsibility which franchise and a voice 
in the state confer. In a word, they needed to be consti- 
tuted members of a republic — so ordered, however, that 
it might not fall into anarchy through the incompetence 
of the many to administer it. Now this is just the form 
of government which God instituted through Moses 
among the chosen people. And thus we see, emanating 



176 



THE CONSTITUTION. 



from the same divine source, a monarchy in Egypt, a 
theocratic republic in the wilderness. 

These few passing remarks may be taken as a speci- 
men of the light which the sacred history may be made 
to throw on the most interesting questions which engage, 
and too often unhappily agitate and distract, the world. 
The study of the sacred Scriptures, in this point of view, 
has indeed been but little attended to hitherto, and, there- 
fore, in this sphere of sacred criticism, a wide Held is still 
uncultivated. It is a pleasing feature, however, in all the 
respectable commentaries which are published in these 
our days, that they bestow far more pains on such sub- 
jects than those of a former age. Not that we mean to 
flatter ourselves, as if we were more devoted to the illus- 
tration of the Bible than our forefathers. The fact is far 
otherwise. We are not to be praised for doing that which 
has been commended. It is a matter of necessity with 
us. Preceding commentators have completely exhausted 
the illustration of the Scriptures in a devotional point of 
view. It is a waste of time to attempt any thing better 
in this respect than they have bequeathed to us. If we 
are to do any thing at all, therefore, in biblical illustration, 
it can only be in reference to antiquities, geography, 
polity, and the philosophy of history. And it is delight- 
ful to observe (being a fine example of God's overruling 
and arranging better for man, than man does for himself, 
or even discovers when the thing is going on and he 
reaping the benefit), how beautifully this necessity, which 
the active-minded believer is now under, coincides with 
the wants of the times. For what is now chiefly wanted 
is such an illustration of the Scriptures as may resolve 
the difficulties which are apt to suggest themselves on an 
irreligious perusal of them, and so to give colour to infi- 
delity. But the illustrations of the kind alluded to, and 
of which several examples have been already given in this 



THE PHARISEE. 



177 



work, not only make all difficulties disappear, but shew 
that the Scriptures are more replete with even literary, 
historical, and philosophical interest, than any other 
volume ""to which the merely intellectual man, or the 
merely critically disposed, can turn. And commentaries 
bringing out these points, though they are apt, at first 
sight, to offend those who are strong in the faith, and 
whose piety is of long standing, yet will never materially 
injure them ; while, on the other hand, they may be the 
means of reconciling thousands to the word of God, and 
thus ultimately of bringing them to the knowledge of the 
truth. But on these subjects we need not enlarge. 

And now let us pass over long ages of sacred history 
(various in every feature but in this, that they are always 
instructive), in order to abridge to a proper degree our 
illustrations of the catholicity of true religion derived 
from this field of observation. 



THE PHARISEE. 

We have seen how minutely and strictly the Mosaic- 
institutes defined and limited the functions and privi- 
leges of the priesthood. Still, history acquaints us with 
the fact, that during the latter period of the constitution, 
aided probably by the fact that the princes of the nation 
belonged to the sacerdotal order, that order departed in a 
remarkable manner from the purity of its first institution, 
and shewed all the worst features of an exclusive, tyran- 
nous, and hypocritical spirit. 

Of this spirit, and of the priesthood as an order, the 
Pharisee was the representative ; and we have only to look 
to his pretensions and tenets to see in the holy land the 
same bad system which we have already seen, and could 
bear with more toleration in India and Egypt. 



178 



THE PHARISEE. 



The characteristics of the Pharisees were these, — a 
desire for popular supremacy, indicated by their love of 
the uppermost seats in the synagogue, of greetings in the 
market-place, and of being called Rabbi, — a taste for 
honouring the dead, and for persecuting the living, indi- 
cated by their building the tombs of the prophets, and 
ornamenting the sepulchres of the righteous, while they 
persecuted and crucified the living witnesses of the 
truth, — a claim of immunities for their order, indicated by 
their binding heavy burdens, and laying them on men's 
shoulders, while they themselves would not move them 
with one of their fingers, — a pretension to an oral tradi- 
tion of equal authority with the written word, and mak- 
ing the law of God of none effect, — the doctrine that 
man is able to keep both laws, and even to perform 
works of supererogation, — the necessity for penitents 
to give satisfaction by fastings, alms, purifications, and 
sacrifices, confessions, and deprecations of sin, — the doc- 
trine of purgations after death in an intermediate state, 
— the wearing of a sanctimonious dress, — ostentatious 
praying in the streets, — rigid discipline, in fastings, 
watchings, &c, — a scrupulous care in avoiding all objects 
of legal impurity ; in a word, the placing of the whole 
of religion in positive institutions and external obser- 
vances. Add to these the institution of various reli- 
gious orders, of which the Truncatus was one, who, that 
he might appear in profound meditation, as if destitute 
of feet, scarcely lifted them from the ground ; the Mor- 
tarius another, who, that his meditations might not be 
disturbed, wore a deep cap, in the shape of a mortar, 
which would only permit him to look upon the ground 
at his feet ; and the Impingens, a third, who, shutting 
his eyes as he walked along, to avoid the sight of women, 
often struck his head against the wall ! And under all 
this shew of zeal and devotion, vanity, avarice, licen- 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



179 



tiousness, and a spirit of cruel persecution, — such was 
the Pharisee. We equally remark, in him, the charac- 
teristics of a degenerate priesthood, and a total depar- 
ture from the spirit of the Mosaic institutions, and of 
true religion. 

But the Jewish nation was now under the dominion 
of the Romans, and the Pharisees were now prevented 
from that political development whtch the spirit that 
animated them is ever seeking, and which it too often 
succeeds in obtaining. We have, therefore, only to mark 
the spirit in the present case, not its practical effects. 

THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 

In every sphere to which we direct our attention, we 
find a remarkable enlargement in favour of catholicity at 
the advent of our Saviour. We may first shew this in 
reference to civil government, and the exercise of human 
authority, one of the most important functions of man — 
the most necessary, or the most superfluous — the most 
beneficial, or the most injurious, according as it is rightly 
or wrongly, seasonably or unseasonably, put forth. 

In an early stage of society, as has been already stated 
(page 138), every government has at least the form and 
semblance of a theocracy. The mind, during that epoch, 
ascribes to God all things, not immediately seen to be 
the doings of man, whether they be phenomena of the 
natural, the political, or the moral world. And it is 
indeed a beautiful and truly thankworthy provision of 
Providence, that, during that epoch, when the destructive 
passions are so fierce, when reason has as yet done so 
little to transform and restrain them, and law so little to 
regulate them, there should be in the human mind, and 
in the spirit of the times, such a sense of God. It is 



180 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



only sad that man should not be led by it to any nobler 
conceptions of the Godhead, than those idols which un- 
enlightened nations worship and fear. Nevertheless this 
tendency in the human mind, during that epoch, to re- 
gard all things as divine, is a feature very much to be 
commended and admired. Even in the worst cases it 
serves valuable purposes, and it often renders society pos- 
sible where it coultl not otherwise exist. 

God has consecrated it. He has himself given a true 
theocracy. The Mosaic dispensation was, as has been 
already shewn, a strict and true theocracy. Jehovah 
was the king, and from him there were immediately dis- 
pensed, not only powers enabling the magistrates under 
him to govern, but also the actual laws in the very forms 
in which they were to be administered. Such a dispen- 
sation was, however, confined to the Jews. The theo- 
cracies of the surrounding nations were merely fictions, 
with idols for gods, and human sacrifices and obscenities 
for worship. Still each people viewed itself as under a 
theocracy. That this was the case with the nations no- 
ticed in the sacred history, fully appears from that his- 
tory itself. Whether in Egypt or in Canaan, the strug- 
gles between the Jews and their enemies were regarded 
on the Gentile side as well as on the Jewish, as struggles 
having for their object to shew whose gods were most pro- 
pitious and powerful. The Jews were, however, dis- 
tinguished from all the other nations, by this 'great pecu- 
liarity, that while, in point of fact, Jehovah their God, 
was the true God, they knew also that the idols in whom 
their enemies trusted, were vanities, and that over all 
the earth, there was no God but Jehovah. It was other- 
wise with the surrounding nations. They not only be- 
lieved each in its own gods, but they admitted the power 
of the gods of their enemies ; and hence their eagerness 
to capture the idols or symbols which represented them. 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



181 



But not to enter on such subjects in detail, deeply in- 
teresting as is the field of inquiry, we remark here, that 
this state of things on the side of the Jews, — their posses- 
sion by a true theocracy, sustained by a miracle ; and 
their consciousness that they had nothing to fear from 
the gods of other nations, Jehovah being the only God, — 
this state of faith and privilege, while it developed in the 
Jews a heroic spirit, which none could resist, tended also 
to generate in that people a very exclusive spirit. Nor 
was this a fault, considering the circumstances in which 
they were then placed. On the contrary, it was a feature 
to be admired ; for not only was exclusiveness essential 
to the preservation of the nation, and of the truth among 
them ; but in such a case as theirs, intercourse with the 
surrounding nations was equivalent to contamination. It 
is no less true, however, that a spirit of exclusiveness, 
although in certain circumstances, and in certain respects, 
it may serve valuable purposes, and produce much good, 
or at least prevent much evil, is apt, in other circum- 
stances, and in other respects, to generate many errors, 
and do much harm. And so it was with the Jews, espe- 
cially during the latter ages of the theocracy. 

Thus, when that form of government had nearly served 
its purposes, miraculous endowments, of which God is 
always frugal, were gradually withdrawn. And then the 
government, being less manifestly under God, had the 
boldness, on its own part, to become very arbitrary and 
irregular ; and the people, on theirs, to become very un- 
ruly. One feature, however, which characterized the 
Jews to the last, was the peculiar regard which they had 
for their own institutions. They still looked upon them 
all as from God. But, unhappily, while they regarded their 
own in this favourable light, they scorned all others . They 
refused to submit to the laws of other states ; and hence 
the character for bad subjects, which they had over all 



182 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



the ancient world. Nor can they be blamed for this. 
The Mosaic institutions are one and all of them pecu- 
liarly incompatible with subjection and slavery on the 
part of those who are called upon to observe them. They 
were framed to subsist only till the advent of the Mes- 
siah. The same prophetic spirit which visited the dying 
Jacob, and foretold that the sceptre would not depart from 
Judah till the Shiloh came, had taught Moses that he 
needed not to anticipate the slavery of the chosen people.* 

But the sceptre has departed, and the Shiloh is come. 
And what is the doctrine which He himself delivers con- 
cerning civil government ? and what is the form of the 
theocracy which He institutes ? These important points, 
we learn from the evangelist John. In the presence of 
the Roman authority, Jesus declares, and His apostles 
afterwards illustrate the same principle more fully, that 
not the Jewish only, as the Jews themselves supposed, 
but the Roman too, in a word, all power is of God — 
there is no power but of God. When the Roman pro- 
consul, as an argument for obtaining answers from our 
Saviour, said to him, " Knowest thou not that I have 
power to crucify thee, and have power to release thee ?" 
Jesus answered, " Thou couldest have no power at all 
against me, except it were given thee from above ; there- 
fore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater 
sin;"-f* and this broad statement, which applies to all 
mankind a principle, which the Jews had hitherto con- 
fined to their own polity only, is repeated and developed 
by all the apostles. 

More especially the apostle Paul, in his Epistle to the 
Romans, as if utterly to put a stop to the idea till then 
prevalent in the Church, that no power but what is as- 
sociated with true religion, and emanates from within 
the pale of the Church, is from God, lays it down in 
* Gen. xlix. 10. t John xix. 11. 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



183 



these words, " Let every soul be subject unto the higher 
powers, for there is no power but of God : the powers 
that be, are ordained of God. Whosoever, therefore, 
resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God ; and 
they that resist shall receive to themselves condemna- 
tion. For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to 
the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power ? do 
that which is good and thou shalt have praise of the 
same ; for he is the minister of God to thee for good. 
But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid ; for he beareth 
not the sword in vain : for he is the minister of God, a 
revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil. 
Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only on account 
of wrath, but also for conscience 5 sake. For this cause 
pay ye tribute also : for they are God's ministers, attend- 
ing continually upon this very thing. Render, therefore, 
to all their dues, tribute to whom tribute is due, custom 
to whom custom, fear to whom fear, honour to whom 
honour." * Similarly also, the apostle Peter. " Submit 
yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's 
sake : whether it be to the king as supreme ; or unto go- 
vernors, as unto them that are sent by him for the pun- 
ishment of evil doers, and for the praise of them that 
do well. For so is the will of God, that with well-doing 
may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men ; as 
freemen, yet not using your liberty as a cloak of malicious- 
ness but as bondsmen to God. Honour all men. Love the 
brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king."-)- The other 
apostles also deliver, implicitly at least, the same principles. 
We have, therefore, upon a basis of revelation, as broad 
as the New Testament can give to any doctrine, these 
two great principles, first, that all power is from God ; 
and, secondly, that magistracy, not in a nation possess- 
ing the true religion only, but in all nations, is an insti- 
* Rom. xiii. 1. t 1 Peter ii. 13. 



184 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



tution of God. And of these great principles, the appli- 
cation which we find made by the apostles to the first 
converts to Christianity, is, that they should obey impli- 
citly the laws and magistracies of the countries where, in 
the providence of God, they found themselves placed. 

But by the side of this great principle of power and 
right on the part of the civil magistracy, the New Testa- 
ment developes another great principle, namely, that 
Jesus Christ is himself a king, and that all true Chris- 
tians are his subjects. In the same pretorium, and in 
the face of the same Roman authority, whose power He 
declared to be from above, even while it sat in judgment 
upon Him, our. Saviour declares also that He Himself is a 
king. But how are such things compatible, the acknow- 
ledged dominion of the Romans on the one hand, and our 
Saviour's monarchy on the other ? This He himself im- 
mediately explains when he adds, " My kingdom is not of 
this world. If my kingdom were of this world then would 
my servants fight that I should not be delivered to the 
Jews ; but now is my kingdom not from hence." Such 
was His answer. And what is contained in it ? Is Jesus 
Christ merely a nominal king, or a king in heaven only, 
with no rights, no realm, no subjects on earth. If His 
servants are not to fight for Him, what means has He 
for securing His authority, attaching His subjects, and 
subduing His enemies ? These points we learn from the 
remark which He subjoins to the answer which He gave to 
Pilate. Having answered that He was a king, He imme- 
diately adds, " To this end was I born, and for this cause 
came I into the world, that I should bear witness unto the 
truth. Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice."* 
His rights then are those which belong to a " witness of the 
truth," his realm is " the truth," his subjects are " those 



* John xviii. 37. 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



who are of the truth," his government is ** his voice," that 

is, THE POWER OF THE TRUTH. 

Now co- ordinating these two facts, both of which thus 
appear to be integrant principles of the Gospel, first, 
that all powers that be, are ordinances of God ; and, 
secondly, that Christ is a king whom all ought to obey, 
whom all who are of the truth do obey, and who rules by 
the power of the truth, we can easily discover the form 
of the Christian theocracy. Thus, on the one hand, we 
see mere power ever flowing down from God, and always 
investing itself for the time being in the actual govern- 
ment. Nor are we to wonder if the outgoings of this 
power be sometimes directed to wicked designs, though 
its source be divine ; for God gives only the power, not 
the form. Nor, even in the case of a wicked magistrate, 
could his power be prevented from coming from God but 
by miracle ; for it is an universal law that all power is of 
God. But while, on the one hand, we have thus the 
power, descending and manifesting itself in the govern- 
ment, we have, on the other hand, ascending and mani- 
festing itself in the conscience, the voice of Christ 
witnessing for the truth, and for its own authority in all 
and over all. These, then, are the elements of the Chris- 
tian theocracy, — a divine power coming down through 
the few who govern, and bearing on the many, and a di- 
vine voice riskig up through the many, and directed to 
the rulers. And now, what is the ultimate form of such 
a commonwealth ? 

From the very nature of these elements, it follows that 
the voice must always eventually give the form to the 
power. In all cases whatever, it ever is and must be so. 
Even in an autocrat or absolute prince, it is still a voice 
that gives a form to his power It is his own voice, in- 
deed. Still it is a voice ; and so it ever must be in all cases 
whatever. For power is not a thing which has a form of 

Q 



186 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



itself ; it is essentially formless and indefinite ; it is a spi- 
rit which can manifest itself only by embodying itself in 
something else, — in some form, in short. A voice on the 
other hand, is always a definite thing. It is always some 
particular truth — always some form. This distinction is 
indeed pointed at by revelation itself, when the power is 
said to be of God, the voice to be of Christ. For God 
is the Formless, the Infinite, the Universal. Christ is 
the Form-possessing, the Definite, the Individual. 

We see, then, how a Christian theocracy, or a govern- 
ment in harmony with the spirit of the gospel, may be 
constituted. From the Christian revelation respecting 
power, it follows that Christian people must ever submit 
to the powers that be. And if these powers already act 
according to the forms which the voice of Christ ex- 
presses, all is right. The Christian theocracy in that 
state is already fully developed ; and there ought to be 
on the part of the people not only obedience but silence, 
or if a voice at all, then the voice of assistance and of 
mutual gratulation only. But if the " powers that be," 
bear upon the people in forms which are not in harmony 
with the voice of Christ — if they are oppressive— then 
all who hear that voice are called upon as Christians to 
utter it and maintain it until the time come when the 
many are convinced by their witnessing ; and the govern- 
ment conforms to what is right ; — which every govern- 
ment must do sooner or later, else a power will arise in 
some other quarter, which Christians will feel to be from 
God, and will join and' obey. 

We see, then, wherein the Christian or later theocracy 
differs from the Jewish or former one. In the former, 
God gave directly the form as well as the power. He 
gave the very laws and ordinances, as well as the magis- 
trates. In the later, he gives only the magistrates — He 
calls upon Christians to give the form, to frame the laws 
and institutions, the voice of Christ being given for 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



187 



Guidance. And in this change we are called upon to 
admire the deep insight which it displays beyond what 
immediately appears. For under the old theocracy, where 
the form was given as well as the power. Christianity 
never could have become an universal religion, at least 
not till there was an outward uniformity over all the hu- 
man family. Society could never have advanced in ci- 
vilization under it. In fact the Jewish theocracy was de- 
signed chiefly for fixing and for preventing. It was also 
intended for one people exclusively. But the theocracy 
described as Christian is, as it needs to be, capable of 
universal application, and admits of every variety of form. 
It is at once beautifully calculated to develope human na- 
ture and civilization by that exercise of reason and. con- 
science, which it calls for ; and to adapt itself to every suc- 
cessive change which society undergoes, as it advances in 
the scale of intellectual development and moral excellence. 

It does not argue any defect in the Jewish economy, 
that it would not have answered when applied to societies 
and spheres of action for which it was never designed. 
It only argues man's imperfection, that he should have 
ever thought of so applying it. How illogical to argue 
that, because there was a Moses in Israel, therefore there 
ought to be a Pope in Christendom. If indeed the Pope 
could accredit his pretensions as Moses did his authority, 
by palpable miracles seen and believed and felt by all, 
then whatever the reasons and semblances to the con- 
trary, we should be obliged to believe that the scheme 
of the old theocracy subsisted still, and should feel called 
upon to look up to the Pope for law in all things, as the 
Israelites did to Moses. But while the attempts of the 
court of Rome to get up miracles, shew its conviction of 
their necessity, the actual want of genuine miracles de- 
stroys altogether the analogy between the papacy and 
the theocracy, and leaves the Pope's pretensions wholly 



188 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



unaccredited. If they be just and warrantable, it can 
only be because the voice of Christ decides in their fa- 
vour ; for that is the only standard of appeal as to any 
form of government under the Christian dispensation. 
But who that listens to the voice of Christ, and to that 
voice exclusively, believes in the Pope ? 

Popery did, indeed, from the very fact of its being an 
imitation of the old Theocracy, serve a valuable purpose 
during a certain epoch, to which such a constitution was 
peculiarly suitable. For when the exhausted forms of 
the society of ancient Europe were destroyed by the de- 
luge of new life, which flowed down from the north, in 
the early part of the middle ages, a chaos resulted for a 
time, out of which the first forms of society that arose 
resembled those of extreme antiquity. For such a state 
of things, therefore, a government on the theocratic prin- 
ciple was peculiarly fit, and just for the same reasons 
then, as in remote antiquity. The human mind being 
in the same circumstances, displayed the same phenome- 
na, and needed the same form of government. And it is, 
indeed, truly curious to observe in how many details the 
forms and accessories of the ancient theocracies repro- 
duced themselves during the early part of the middle ages. 
But now that these times are long since gone by, the 
theocracy, after the purely Christian model, is what every 
Christian ought to strive for. What this model is, I have 
endeavoured, in the preceding remarks, to delineate, and 
beg here to recapitulate in a single sentence. God gives 
the power ; the people (guided by the voice of Christ) 
must give the form, — not, however, by rebelling against 
existing forms, but by witnessing for such as are more 
just, more holy, — the state consulting for what is just, 
the church for what is holy. 

But if this principle be true, there ought, in strict pro- 
priety, to bo as many forms of Christian government as 



THE CHRISTIAN THEOCRACY. 



189 



there are of Christian society. Pervading all, there ever 
ought, indeed, to be an unity of spirit, because the voice 
of Christ is one, and the general principles of reason and 
conscience are every where the same ; but this unity of 
spirit must be invested in as many varieties of forms, as 
there are peoples in different states of civilization ; else all 
cannot be equally well suited. In order to this, the just 
and the holy, the state and the church, must be formed into 
varied appliances. An uniformity over all in ecclesias- 
tical arrangements, then, can only be best when society 
shall have become uniform in other respects likewise. 

We see, then, what a fine display of catholicity true 
religion exhibited, in reference to civil government, at the 
advent of Christ, and the commencement of the gospel 
era. The people of God were no longer reckoned children, 
to be regulated and guided, in every particular of conduct, 
by a positive precept. The age of the manhood of the 
church is now arrived. The law is no longer announced 
in so many set phrases addressed to the outward ear. The 
law written on the heart, — reason and conscience, scrip- 
ture and grace, co-operating and mutually assisting, — 
must now develope the laws and institutions of the Chris- 
tian era. And thus man, in following Jesus in the rege- 
neration, and under Him resuming the image of God, is 
not only " renewed in the inner man to righteousness and 
true holiness," but is even likened unto God in this, that 
each Christian man, in the little society of which he is a 
member, is called upon to be a little Providence within his 
own sphere, to discover his special gifts, and to exercise 
them for the enlightenment and well-being of the circle 
through which his influence extends. Plainly, therefore, 
by the advent of the Messiah, humanity was greatly ex- 
alted in all that relates to society and the economy of 
this world. Let us now inquire how it went at this bless- 
ed epoch with doctrinal religion. 



190 



THE SACRIFICE. 



THE SACRIFICE. 

The Messiah is at once the great high priest and the 
holy sacrifice ; in a word, He is the sum and substance of 
all sacrificial religion, the object from whom, as to the 
past, every priest ordained by men derived whatever sa- 
cerdotal powers he ever legitimately possessed or exer- 
cised, from whom every drop of blood that had ever been 
shed in sacrifice derived its virtue to take away sin, and 
in whom, as to the future, all sacrifices ceased. 

This is so palpably set forth in the epistle to the He- 
brews, that it is wonderful how any one can admit the 
canonicity of that epistle, and yet maintain another doc- 
trine. " When Christ cometh into the world, he saith, 
Sacrifice and offering thou wouldst not ; but a body hast 
thou prepared for me. In burnt-offerings and sin-offer- 
ings thou hadst no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come 
(in the volume of the book it is written of me) to do thy 
will, O God. Above he saith, Sacrifice and offering, and 
burnt-offerings, and sin-offerings, thou wouldst not, and 
hadst no pleasure therein (namely, those that are offered 
according to the law). Then he said, Lo, I come to do 
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first, that he may 
establish the second. By which will expiation is made for 
us, through the offering of the body of Christ once for all. 
Now every priest standeth ministering daily, and offering 
frequently the same sacrifices, which can never take 
away sins. But Christ, when he had offered one ever- 
efficacious sacrifice for sins, sat down at the right hand 
of God, henceforth waiting till his enemies be made his 
footstool. For by one offering, he hath perfected for ever 
those for whom expiation is made. Moreover the Holy 
Spirit testifieth this to us, for after having said before, 
" this is the covenant which I will make with them after 



*. 

THE SACRIFICE. 



191 



those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws into their 
hearts, and in their minds I will write them. And their 
sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Now, 
where remission of these is, an offering for sin is no longer 
necessary." * 

This extract, which is only a part of the apostle's ar- 
gument, sets forth as plainly as any language can set 
forth a truth, that the true religion is no longer sacrifi- 
cial otherwise than by its relation to the death of Christ. 
It clearly shews that sacrifice is no longer a part of 
worship. Is it not deeply to be deplored, therefore, that 
the Church of Rome should regard the Eucharist as a 
sacrifice, and that the pious in that communion should 
look to the altar and not to heaven for the body of 
their Saviour ? But here, marking the apostle's argu- 
ment, let us rather observe how much the true religion 
is by the abolition of sacrifices and the new emphasis 
given to the law written on the heart, assimilated to the 
religion of Paradise again. Let us mark the new call 
upon reason and conscience, and the duty of maintaining, 
as well as the privilege of enjoying, the newly gotten 
liberty of the sons of God. " We were never in bondage 
to any man," said the Jews. " If the Son shall make you 
free," answered the Saviour, " you shall be free indeed," 
and in similar terms do all the apostles write. They call 
upon the Christian converts everywhere to emancipate 
themselves from a religion of symbolism and of the beg- 
garly elements of this world, which did not profit them 
that had been occupied therein. t 

In the Mosaic economy, the principle of Unity ren- 
dered so necessary by the universal tendency to Poly- 
theism on all hands, was so strongly brought out, that 
not only was the unity of the Godhead very largely and 
explicitly maintained, while that of the Trinity was left 
* Heb. x. f Heb. xiii. 9. 



192 



THE MINISTRY. 



for more full development afterwards, but worship was 
permitted only in one place, and only after a certain 
manner — all which institutions served most valuable pur- 
poses, not only for the time then being, but for the in- 
struction of mankind generally. But now that economy 
has passed away, the age of variety as well as of unity, 
and of realities as well as of symbolism, is come ; and 
more particularly, the grand principle of Catholicity in 
the most important of all matters is fully and emphati- 
cally revealed. These were the last words of Jesus Christ, 
61 Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them 
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatso- 
ever I have commanded you, and so I am with you al- 
ways, even unto the end of the world. Amen." 



THE MINISTRY. 



But how went it now with the priesthood ? It has been 
just shewn that, by the death of Christ, all further sacri- 
fice was superseded and rendered impious. But to offer 
sacrifice is the most characteristic function of a priest, 
and when we come to make some remarks on the pri- 
mitive church, we shall find that no place was left in it 
for a priesthood properly so called. Meantime let us see 
how it went with the priesthood extant at the birth of 
our Saviour. Since the Messiah himself is, as has been 
already stated, to become the great high priest to put 
away sin by the sacrifice of himself, let us first inquire 
in what class of society he becomes incarnate And, in 
a word, does he choose the sacerdotal order ? No. He is 
born of the tribe of Judah, of which Moses says nothing 
concerning priesthood.* Does he then dignify his birth 
* Heb. viii. 10. 



THE MINISTRY. 



193 



and provide for the religion which He is to spread by 
choosing His ministers from the sacerdotal class ? No, He 
keeps wholly aloof from it. The apostles are poor Ga- 
lilean fishermen. The seventy are such as come to Him. 
Nay, others are permitted to perform miracles in His 
name, who were not commissioned by Him at all, or at 
least not acknowledged by the apostles.* 

Well ; but though our Saviour did not belong to the 
sacerdotal order, nor choose His disciples from it, did He 
not at least commend the Scribes and Pharisees, who, in 
the eyes of the people, were looked upon as the oracles 
and representatives of all that was most religious ? No. 
It is against them, their traditions, their multiplied and 
yet wholly superficial purifications, their burdensome yet 
trivial ritual, their punctilious observance of legal trifles, 
and their neglect of justice, judgment, and truth, that He 
levels his most severe and almost the only severe denun- 
ciations that He ever uttered ! 

Still, however, be it well observed, that in nought that 
He says against them does He give the slightest warrant 
to those who take upon them to apply the like denuncia- 
tions to a priesthood, merely because it is a ministry of 
religion, or to a ministry of religion, merely because they 
call it a priesthood. Those who do so have much to 
answer for ; and they need not go to the word of God 
seeking an excuse. Every page of it condemns them. 
But here let us remark only, that before our Saviour 
utters a word against the Scribes and Pharisees, he sanc- 
tions their office, and charges the people to listen to what 
they command, and to obey them. " The Scribes and 
Pharisees (says He) sit in Moses' seat : all therefore what- 
soever they bid you observe, that observe and do ; but 
do not ye after their works ; for they say, and do not."-(- 
Then follow His denunciations which bring under the eye 
* Mark ix. 39. t Matthew xxiii. 



194 



PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. 



so graphically the marks of a degenerate priesthood, and 
the sins to which that order has in all ages been so prone, 
that we request the reader to peruse it before proceeding 
farther. It is recorded in Matthew's Gospel, chap, xxiii. 
from the 13th verse to the end. 

So hateful to the Son of the God of Love is the hypo- 
critical persecuting spirit of a degenerate and self aggran- 
dizing priesthood. Still, however, — let us repeat it,— He 
sanctioned the institution, and even the authority of the 
very men whom He denounced. Bad as the teachers of 
religion were, He himself called upon the people to obey 
them. He only pointed out their hypocrisy, and charged 
the people not to imitate them. 



PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. 

On His own part our Saviour propounded a religion 
the very reverse of that into which the Scribes and Pha- 
risees had degraded the religion of Moses. He devoted 
His whole time to working gratuitously miracles of good- 
ness, and to recalling the minds of men to the great prin- 
ciples of spiritual piety and pure morality, which the 
teachers then extant had altogether sunk or obscured 
under a multitude of trivial observances. In opposition 
to the undue emphasis and exorbitant value which they 
attached to the strict observance of a certain ritual in its 
own exact forms, times, and places, He proclaims the 
mighty principle that the time is now come when the 
true worshipper is to worship God, neither in Judea 
exclusively, nor in Samaria exclusively, but — free from 
restrictions as to time and place — in spirit and in truth.* 
He places the essence of religion in trust in God, and 
love to Him as manifested in and through Himself ; He 

* John iv. 21. 



PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. 



195 



lays the essence of worship in prayer ; He urges upon all, 
the necessity of holiness, and He commends and exem- 
plifies the most exalted morality which the world ever 
heard of. On this He lays peculiar emphasis. " Not every 
one (says He) who says, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the 
kingdom of heaven ; but he who doeth the will of my 
Father who is in heaven."* " Whosoever shall do the 
will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my bro- 
ther, and sister, and mother, "f And of this will, in 
reference to His disciples, He declares, again and again, 
that its first element is, that they should love one another. 
Nay, this He gives as the very criterion of discipleship. 
" By this (says He) shall all men know that ye are my 
disciples, if ye have love one to another." This love, 
which He commands his disciples to entertain, He calls a 
new commandment. Do you wonder at this ? So it was. 
So it is. Who in the wide world observes it ? Why, the 
man who maintains it, even in words merely, is thought 
weak. It was not (said Pope Julius) till after Peter had 
struck the servant of the high priest, and cut off his ear, 
that our Saviour told him to put up his sword in his 
sheath. And this saying is full of point. Papist or Pro- 
testant, it makes little difference here. Fallen nature 
will out. Men will fight. But it can only be at their peril 
that Christians quarrel. For while our Saviour himself 
enjoins love, as has been stated, His beloved and fully- 
inspired disciple John . goes the length of saying that 
" whoso hateth his brother is a murderer." J 

But let us not here agitate our spirits by looking to 
the world. Let us return to Christ and His first minis- 
ters, whose labours in the good cause even their enemies 
observing, exclaimed, " Behold how these Christians 
love one another." The apostles and the seventy, di- 
vinely empowered to make known the mind of Christ, 

* Matt. vii. 21. t Matt. xii. 50. % John iii. 5. 



196 



PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. 



and miraculously gifted for producing conviction in those 
whom they addressed, directed their attention towards the 
same great principles which their Master had taught and 
exemplified. But this was not all. These great princi- 
ples were now enriched and completed by the doctrine of 
the cross, which, as it was not " finished" till the death 
of Christ, could not be fully developed till after that 
event. The Epistles, therefore, are a necessary supple- 
ment to the Gospels ; and in order to seize upon the uni- 
ty of the faith, and to avoid resting in partial and frag- 
mentary views of it, an equal regard must be had to 
both. We will not attempt here, however, to give a sum- 
mary of what is to be found there. Such summaries are 
already very numerous Far better go to the originals. 
Suffice it here to say, that (1.) the necessity of repentance 
in order to the remission of sins ; (2.) the sufficiency of be- 
lieving the gospel in order to salvation ; (3.) the necessity 
of the love of God in order to true religion, and (4.) the 
love of each other in order to true discipleship to Jesus, 
— these were the great articles of primitive Christianity, 
these were the elements of primitive Catholicism. 

But besides the full and direct statement of such 
great principles, very much of a more particular nature 
is found both in the Gospels and Epistles. And here we 
must not fail to remark, that of all collateral subjects, 
that on which the apostles bestow most pains, is the en- 
deavour to persuade the Christian converts, while they 
embraced the salvation of Christ, to embrace also the 
liberty with which Christ had set them free, to leave 
off from the complicated ceremonials and positive insti- 
tutions of the preceding order of things, which had now 
fulfilled its term, and to walk, like the patriarchs of old. 
by reason and conscience, ennobled by the faith of Christ, 
and enlightened by His voice and spirit. The faith itself 
explained, this was the next great object of their preaching. 



PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. 



197 



In every discourse and epistle they appeal to the reason 
and conscience of those whom they address. They rest 
very little upon mere authority. They rather avoid ap- 
pealing to it. Hence the form of the apostolic epistles ; 
which may, of course, be taken as types of the apostles' 
preaching. Each consists of two parts ; first, an argu- 
ment addressed to the reason, in order to establish the 
faith of the converts on reasonable grounds, and put 
them in a position in which they would both be secure 
from being tossed about by every wind of doctrine 
(which is very much the case when the faith lies in the 
sensibilities merely, and not in the reason), and also be 
able to give to every one that asked them a reason for 
the hope that was in them ; and, second, a practical part 
addressed to conscience, and consequently recognising 
and appealing to its supremacy. 

Much of the argumentative parts of the epistles, espe- 
cially those of St Paul, may be described as the deve- 
lopment of the theory of the Mosaic economy ; whence 
it followed, that, far from arguing any thing like muta- 
bility in God, its abrogation then, or rather its transfor- 
mation into Christianity, was the very plan and principle 
of it from the beginning. The apostles inform us, that 
a complicated ritual, a law of outward and positive pre- 
cepts, such as that under which the people of God had 
been laid till then, however divine in its origin, and how- 
ever binding, from the days of Moses till those of Christ, 
was not in itself an object of the divine complacency : 
they shew that it was the form of religion suitable to 
the childhood of the church only ; they shew that this 
childhood was then past, — that Christ was come to esta- 
blish a new order of things, — come to do what was to give 
God pleasure, from the very nature of the thing done, 
namely, to make expiation for sin once for all, and setting 
the pious for ev§r free from sacrifices and ceremonials, to 



198 



PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANITY. 



call upon them to obey the law written on their hearts, — 
a law in obeying which there is not only that which is 
pleasing to God, but that which has in itself a great re- 
ward. Hence the earnest endeavours of the apostles, to 
persuade those whom they addressed to believe in a once- 
crucified, but now highly-exalted Redeemer, to trust in 
him for justification before God, not in the law of Moses, 
and to regulate their lives by those faultless moral pre- 
cepts which Jesus taught in His discourses, and exem- 
plified in His life. 

As to externals, the chief endeavour of the apostles 
was to induce the Christian converts, on the one hand, to 
abandon the ritual in which they had been educated, 
which was now superseded by the advent, and replaced 
by Christian liberty ; and to induce the heathen con- 
verts, on the other, to refrain from adopting the ritual 
of the Jews, when they abandoned the rites of paganism. 
To the ceremonies which they abrogated, the apostles do, 
indeed, assign the valuable place of tutors and governors, 
until the time appointed by the Father. But they shew 
also, in very explicit terms, that these ceremonies were 
not designed by Jehovah to be perpetual, but only to re- 
gulate and educate the childhood of the church when it 
came out of the dark womb of Egypt. 

In teaching Christian liberty, however, the apostles 
only partially succeeded. Educational prepossessions and 
prejudices are not to be overcome, except in a very few. 
And though the ritual against which the apostles direct- 
ed their preaching, stood only in meats and drinks, and 
diverse washings and cardinal ordinances, imposed on the 
church, till the time of reformation ; still, to their great 
grief, the apostles had occasion to utter such exclama- 
tions as these : " How turn ye again to the weak and 
beggarly elements whereunto ye desire again to be in 
bondage ! Ye observe days and months, and times and 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH 



19^ 



years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed on you 
labour in vain." * 

Nor were these fears groundless or applicable to those 
times only. Judaizing has been the great error in the 
Christian church from age to age, down to the present 
day. The tendency to place religion in the sensibilities 
and the imagination, rather than in the reason and con- 
science, and consequently in forms addressed to the 
senses, rather than in spiritual truths addressed to the 
understanding and the heart, is inveterately strong in the 
nature of fallen man. And it is so much more easy to 
obey any authority addressed to the outward ear, than 
the still small voice of conscience, so much more easy to 
recognise the supremacy of another power than to master 
self, that, just as in the childhood of the church, when 
nothing else would do, so is there still a great demand 
on the part of the many, for positive institutions and pre- 
cepts. Nay, worse than this, it is so hard to give up all 
hope from self, and to trust entirely in the merits of 
another for salvation, that man will rather put himself 
under a self-invented bondage, and serve all his life 
under the fear of death, in the hope of saving himself by 
his own endeavours, than embrace the liberty with which 
Christ hath made His people free, and worship and obey 
through love, Him who is already his Saviour, and as 
such calls every believer to virtue and to holiness. 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 

Such were the objects to which the apostles directed 
their labours almost exclusively, — the glory of God in 
the mission of Christ, and the salvation of men through 
him. But in revealing these objects, they did not go 
* Gal. iv. 9. 



200 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



by stated rule, but by immediate inspiration. Far from 
giving any examples of those rubrics and rituals, after- 
wards framed (the Bituale Eomanum, for instance, my 
copy of which is a goodly quarto, the first fifty-two pages 
filled with rules how to perform the sacraments of bap- 
tism, and the next ten with rules how to perform the 
sacrament of penitence, and so on), the apostles seem 
only to have considered what forms, congenial with the 
spirituality of the gospel, would be most likely to succeed 
in persuading men to believe in a once-crucified, but now 
risen Saviour. Thus, his rule of proceeding, the apostle 
Paul lays down in these words : — " Though I be free 
from all men, yet have I made myself servant unto all, 
that I might gain the more And unto the Jews I be- 
came as a Jew, that I might gain the Jews ; to them 
that are under the law, as under the law, that I might 
gain them that are under the law ; to them that are 
without law, as without law (being not without law to 
God, but under the law to Christ), that I might gain 
them that are without law. To the weak became I as 
weak, that I might gain the weak : I am made all things 
to all men, that I might by all means save some. And 
this I do for the gospel's sake, that I might be partaker 
thereof with you." 

With regard to the form and constitution of the 
churches, which resulted from their ministry, the apos- 
tles, when compared with most who have come after 
them, were but little solicitous. They acted on the 
great and undeniable principle, that, wherever there are 
Christians, a church will form itself spontaneously, and 
needs only to be organized and regulated as circum- 
stances require ; in order to which, a Christian spirit in 
the members will of itself be sufficient. Hence they 
directed their chief endeavours to the preaching of the 
gospel, and to the making of converts. And as to the 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 201 

churches which resulted, it happened as the apostles 
knew it would. Those who were converted, who be- 
lieved and trusted in the common Saviour, and were per- 
secuted and hated by all around, naturally felt drawn to 
each other ; and from the very state of their hearts, and 
their position in society, they formed a communion among 
themselves ; in other words, a church. This the apos- 
tles then organized and regulated as was best for the in- 
terests of those concerned. But so general are the terms 
in which they intimate their proceedings, and give their 
rules, that Christians in the present day are greatly di- 
vided in opinion, as to the form and constitution of the 
primitive churches. Thus, many maintain that the 
episcopacy which the apostles established was prelatical, 
— many that it was on the principle of presbyterian pa- 
rity. Many maintain also that there existed an eccle- 
siastical jurisdiction, extending over all the churches, 
and recognising all as one ; and not a few, that each pri- 
mitive church was independent of the others, and com- 
plete in itself. Now this difference of opinion is just 
what we should expect, if we suppose that, on the subject 
of ecclesiastical constitution, the apostles brought the 
doctrine of Christian liberty to bear in all its fulness. 
And, in point of fact, so they did. Taking the syna- 
gogue and the sanhedrim as the basis on which they built, 
they appear to have been guided in the superstructure 
by the necessities of the particular churches for which 
they legislated, and the spiritual interests of the con- 
verts. Thus, it was not merely for the sake of the in- 
stitution, but when a murmuring began between the 
Greeks and Hebrews through neglecting the widows, 
that deaconry was instituted ; and then it was just for the 
purpose of meeting that emergency, and similar cases 
in the future. It is also to be observed, that when the 
election of deacons thus became necessary, the apostles 



202 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



devolved almost the whole business upon the congrega- 
tion. They made the election popular. But though in 
this case the result appears to have been very satisfac- 
tory, they did not adopt the same mode of proceeding in 
their universal practice, or in reference to the appoint- 
ment of those who exercised spiritual functions in the 
churches. In point of fact, what was most appropriate 
for the comparatively enlightened converts of Jerusalem 
might have been altogether unfit for provincial and dis- 
tant churches, formed of comparatively rude elements, 
and with scarcely any thing in common but the essentials 
of the one faith. And, in harmony with this state of 
matters in different regions, the apostles, so far as we 
can learn, organized their little groups of converts, so as 
to have a single eye to the moral excellence, the spiritual 
enlightenment, and mutual love of the converts, — things 
for the sake of which all ministry is designed. In a 
word, the first teachers of Christianity never lost sight 
of the main objects of the ministry, namely, the conver- 
sion of men to the faith of Christ, and the building up of 
those who were converted already. To these grand ob- 
jects they made all forms subservient. And so perfect 
is the liberty in which the Scriptures have left us, in re- 
ference to the organisation of particular churches; in 
other words, so distinctly are we called upon to give a 
form to the spirit of the gospel in such details, and to 
suit them by the right use of reason to the spiritual wants 
of the particular people to whom the gospel is preached, 
that the search has been made in vain all through the 
New Testament, for arguments on the subject of eccle- 
siastical constitution, that settle the point. Each inquirer 
generally comes away from the perusal of the sacred page, 
convinced the more deeply the longer he inquires, that 
his own prepossession is the truth of the matter. The 
Episcopalian finds many arguments. The Presbyterian 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



203 



finds many arguments. The Independent finds many 
arguments ; each in favour of his own view. And what 
polemic will ever convince the man who finds his spiri- 
tual wants supplied by the ministry to which he belongs 
at present (and all in harmony with the gospel so far as 
he can see), that he ought to abandon his church for an- 
other which is said to have higher claims ? Supply such 
an one with arguments that he ought to change ; then if 
he is a steady and an able man, will he not give you argu- 
ments on his side, page for page ? And look at those who 
change from other motives than love, deference, and a 
desire of unity, are they not generally the weakest and 
most conceited ? And why all this, but because the field 
is open ? 

The form of the Christian church is not defined in the 
Bible. The Christian is free, so far as enlightened reason 
and conscience are free. The kingdom of God is not 
an outward thing, but righteousness, and peace, and joy 
in the Holy Ghost. That which is emphatically " the 
Church," is the general assembly of the first-born, whose 
names are written in heaven. This is the house of God, 
the church of the living God,* and every true Christian, 
whether Episcopalian, Presbyterian, or Independent, feels 
himself to belong to the church of Christ, feels that he 
is a stone in that pillar and support which the church 
gives to the truth, when he adheres conscientiously to 
his own Bible-taught convictions on the subject. 

But man will not be prevented from narrowing the 
word of God. And that frame of mind, of which self is 
the centre, has betrayed many an otherwise Christian 
spirit to believe and to maintain that there is no church 
but that communion to which he himself belongs. The 
Church of Rome is the only true church, say one and all 
of that communion. The Church of England is the only 
true church, it is " the Church ;" — and the Church in 
* 1 Tim. iii. 15. 



204 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



Scotland means the Episcopal Church there, not the Es- 
tablished Church, which is no church, — say too many of the 
communion of England. The Church of Scotland is the 
beau-ideal of a Christian church ; and episcopacy is to be 
altogether condemned, say too many of the Scotch com- 
munion ; while the peasant in that country, marking, ac- 
cording to his far-seeing but rude sagacity, that attach- 
ment to particular churches is a thing of hereditary pre- 
possession, not individual conviction, calls the Episcopa- 
lian, " ane o' the Charlie persuasion," alluding to the 
later names of the Stuart dynasty. 

After Christ himself, the Christian church is said in 
scripture to be founded on the apostles. And every one 
must agree, that this may indeed be truly said of it. For 
to whom do we owe the testimony of the most important 
fact in our religion, the resurrection of our Lord ? It is 
to the apostles. To whom do we owe the development 
of the characteristic doctrine of Christianity, that of the 
atonement ? to whom do we owe all, in a word, which 
could not be brought to light till after Christ's death ? To 
the apostles. Well then may the church be called apos- 
tolic, from spiritual considerations exclusively. And, no 
doubt, the more we regard the apostles in a spiritual 
point of view, the more transparent do we keep the me- 
dium between ourselves and Christ who is head over all. 

To be wholly, or even duly, spiritual, in our regards to 
such an order of men as the apostles, however, is not easy. 
They themselves were very much troubled, by desires, on 
the part of their converts, to confer honours and dignities 
upon them, of which they were nowise ambitious. So long, 
indeed, as people feel that the ministers of religion are 
their superiors, they will always honour them ; and the lat- 
ter, if disposed for despotism, will never find it difficult to 
form themselves into a sacerdotal class. Nay, if the people 
be very ignorant, and yet much alive to religious feelings, 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



205 



priests may always obtain divine honours if they please. 
We see this tendency to adore mere men, in instances 
where we would scarcely have expected it. Even Corne- 
lius, notwithstanding his great illumination, fell down and 
worshipped the apostle Peter. But by such admiration 
and homage the apostles were very much distressed ; and 
it is altogether wonderful how the Church of Rome 
countenances such ongoings on the part of her people 
still. When Cornelius fell down, Peter took him up, 
saying, " Stand up, I myself also am a man." * And 
yet not a day but hundreds, both clergy and laity, fall 
down on their knees even to the bronze image of the 
same apostle, which sits frowning in a well-managed 
obscurity in the cathedral of St Peter at Rome. In like 
manner, at Lystra, the people desired to pay divine 
honours to Paul and Barnabas. But there too, similarly to 
Peter, yet more deeply distressed by the proffered homage, 
the two apostles rent their clothes, and ran in among the 
people, crying out, " Sirs, why do ye these things, we also 
are men of like passions with you." 

Nor are these accidents all the evidence we have of 
the aversion of the apostles to be thus signalized. St 
Paul chides the Corinthians sharply, for the eminence 
which they were giving to their ministers, some to this, 
some to that apostle ; and not only because they were 
thus creating schisms, but because they were doing wrong 
in glorying in men at all. This he wholly forbids, ask- 
ing such questions as these, " Who then is Paul, and 
who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, 
even as the Lord gave to every man ?" And the subject 
of apostolic dignity he thus winds up, " Let a man so 
account of us as the servants of Christ, and stewards of 
the mysteries of God." 

Still the apostles were not behind on the proper oc- 
* Acts x. 27. 



206 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



casions in asserting their own dignity, and if they did not 
always exert their authority, they let it be known that 
it was not because they wanted the power. And as the 
former view of the position of the apostles in the church 
may be carried to such a length, as to give the Independ- 
ent ground to stand upon, so may the latter be pressed 
so as to convince almost every churchman that he is in 
the right, when he invests the apostles with peculiar 
dignity, and bishops after them, — if he be satisfied as 
to the doctrine of apostolic succession. Each view has 
many arguments in its own favour. And, in like man- 
ner, with regard to the relative dignity of the teachers 
of religion now (who are in point of fact at least the 
successors or representatives of the first teachers), there 
are good reasons for maintaining a parity among them 
all, when one condition of the multitude of believers 
and of the clergy is looked to — good reasons for main- 
taining a prelacy among them, when another condi- 
tion of the multitude of believers and of the clergy 
is looked to. Nay, the primacy of St Peter may be 
made out in such a way as may easily be conceived 
to satisfy good men. Let a man have a certain tone 
of mind, or be taking a certain view of the field of 
ministerial labour, he is sure to be persuaded by one set 
of arguments in favour of one view. Let another have 
another tone of mind, or be taking another view of the 
field, he is sure to be persuaded by another set of argu- 
ments in favour of another view. Nor is there any pos- 
sibility of preventing this variety in the convictions of 
different men, but by preventing the variety in their gifts 
and opportunities. But these are in the hands of God, not 
in ours. And if it be His will, and the order which He 
has established in the church, that in the unity of the spirit 
there should be variety of gifts, and that to one should 
be given one, to another another, it is surely ours to as- 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



207 



sent, nay, to embrace His will, and to perceive that this 
is our calling as spiritual men, to maintain the unity of 
the spirit in the midst of variety in forms, and to recog- 
nise all equally as members of " The Church," and to wish 
grace, mercy, and peace unto all who love the Lord Jesus, 
and call upon his name in sincerity. 

But while it thus appears to be our calling to entertain 
this latitude of belief respecting these circumstantials in 
the constitution of the primitive churches, it is equally 
our calling, when taking a candid view of the matter, to 
mark that the Christian church and ministry were built 
upon the synagogue and sanhedrim, not upon the tem- 
ple service and the priesthood. These words of the 
apostle, already quoted, " He taketh away the first, that 
he may establish the second," directly refer to this, and 
intimate it. The whole temple service and priestly office 
had respect to Christ and His sacrifice, and culminated 
when He was stretched on the cross, and terminated when 
the veil was rent. The apostles were not a continuation 
of the priesthood. They were taken from another foun- 
tain altogether ; and they were the beginning of a new 
order altogether. Their positions and calling were those 
of prophets rather than priests. 

But yet neither were they truly prophets. They were 
apostles ; and whether we regard the next race or order 
of Christian ministers whom they appointed, as their 
successors technically or not, certain it is that, in those 
days of inspiration and purity, we find no traces of a re- 
turn to the practice of sacrifice and the temple order and 
service, It is easy to see, however, that as soon as the 
truth degenerated, such a return might be expected, 
partly because of the greater pleasure which sacrifice 
and symbolism always give to the imagination, partly 
because the religions of all the surrounding nations lay 
chiefly in such sacrifices and symbolism. Accordingly, 



208 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



Christianity did soon degenerate into this materialist state, 
and such it is in the Church of Rome to this day. 

In the first century, indeed, we see the spirit and eco- 
nomy of the gospel in finer display than it has been often, 
if ever, seen since. The religious instruction of the first 
Christians, their attainments in Christian knowledge, 
were perhaps comparatively small. They would have 
made but poor polemics. But by the miracles which they 
saw, the word they heard, the spirit they had, they were 
convinced of their sins, converted to Christ, and lived 
forthwith, exemplifying the Christian graces ; and more 
particularly displaying that criterion of Christianity which 
our Saviour gave when he said, " By this shall all men 
know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one towards 
another." * 

How truly Christian is the state of. things which the 
book of the Acts represents as existing among the first be- 
lievers ! When three thousand were converted in a single 
day, doubtless there must have been great differences 
among them ; doubtless had each written out his religious 
knowledge and belief, in the form of a confession, there 
would have been great variety of knowledge and opinion 
expressed by different individuals. Except in the very 
essence, the very unity of the faith, scarcely two of them 
could be expected to be at one. But this variety did in 
no degree interfere with the unity of spirit which ani- 
mated them all. " The multitude of them that believed 
were of one heart and one soul : neither said any of 
them that ought of the things which he possessed was his 
own ; but they had all things common. Neither was 
there any among them that lacked : but as many as were 
possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the 
prices of the things which were sold."-)- 

* Matt, xviii. 3. John iii. 3. Luke xiii. 1. Matt. iii. 7- Acts iii. 
38. Rom. iii. 10. 1 John v. 19. f Acts iv. 32, 34. 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



209 



Nor was it only in Jerusalem that such unity and such 
charity reigned. Even in Corinth, where the greatest 
abuses had crept into the Church from the idolatry out 
of doors ; and where, even in the midst of miraculous en- 
dowments, the spirit of the world had made fearful in- 
roads, we still find love, in the form of charity, obtaining 
commendation from the apostle.* In like manner also, 
in reference to the churches of the Ephesians, the Colos- 
sians, and the Thessalonians, we find the apostle giving 
thanks to God for the faith and love of the converts, and 
on these grounds rejoicing, in terms of which the follow- 
ing may be taken as the general tenor : — li As touching- 
brotherly love, ye need not that I write unto you, for ye 
yourselves are taught of God to love one another." By 
a blessed baptism in the fountain of love, all difference 
of caste was lost. All were made to belong to the same 
caste, and that a caste more honourable than any that 
the world could bestow. In Christ Jesus there were 
neither bond nor free. All were one in Him. And the 
whole formed a beautiful example exhibited in life, of 
that divine law which our Saviour gave when he said, 
" Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, 
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is 
the first and great commandment. And the second is 
like unto it : Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. 
On these two commandments hang all the law and the 
prophets. "+ — A law which, in so far as it relates to our 
fellow-creatures, was repeated and expounded by Paul, 
when he said, " Owe no man any thing, but to love one 
another, for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. 
For this, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt 
not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false 
witness, Thou shalt not covet ; and if there be any other 
commandment, it is briefly comprehended in this saying, 
* 2 Cor. viii. ix. t Matt. xxii. 37. Mark xii. 30. 

S 



210 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



namely, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. Love 
worketh no ill to his neighbour ; therefore love is the 
fulfilling of the law." * — And most tenderly yet pressingly 
urged by the disciple who leant on Jesus' s breast, when, in 
extreme old age, unable any longer to preach the word, 
he wrote to the Christian converts in these touching 
terms, " Beloved, let us love one another : for love is of 
God, and every one that loveth is born of God, and 
knoweth God. He that loveth not, knoweth not God, for 
God is love. In this was manifested the love of God to- 
wards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son 
into the world that we might live through him. Beloved, 
if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. If 
we love one another God dwelleth in us, and his love is 
perfected in us. Hereby we know that we dwell in him 
and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit."' -f- 

Such are the apostolic precepts on this subject, and 
such was the primitive practice. But, along with this 
beautiful unity in spirit, we can easily gather from scrip- 
ture, what reason assures us and the more detailed his- 
tory of the church establishes, that there was great va- 
riety in the circumstances of different churches in diffe- 
rent places. A full liberty appears to have been granted 
to Christian wisdom to exercise itself in devising, for each 
individual church, that organization and those measures 
which necessity urged or forethought approved, as the 
best for giving stability to the infant church. As to the 
intercourse which obtained at this epoch between church 
and church, it seems just to have been a fine repetition 
between bodies each composed of many individuals, of 
the communion we have already seen to take place be- 
tween single persons in the first ages, when Abraham and 
Melchizedec met in the Plain of Peace, Moses and Jethro 
at the Mount of God. 

* Rom. xiii. 8. f 1 John iv. 7- 



THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 



211 



However great the variety in forms and mere externals 
between the first converts, there was a perfect unity of 
spirit. It was quite enough, in order to mutual affection 
and communion, that they should be Christians. And 
not only is the scene which the church then presents to 
us beautiful to contemplate ; it is also most instructive. 
The church increased rapidly. No contempt, no perse- 
cution, no death, could stop its ascendency over the hearts 
of men. And would it not be the same still if Christians 
were Christians still ? The blows which Popery on the 
one hand;; and Infidelity on the other, are dealing right and 
left on the churches of the Reformation, are they not just 
what our schisms deserve and justify ? And, unless we 
repent and return to our first love, were it not a righteous 
thing in God to take the vineyard from us, and give it 
unto others who will bring forth the fruits thereof? 

It is vain to imagine that mere intellect will ever make 
out, to the satisfaction of all good men, that any one form 
of ecclesiastical polity is exclusively divine. And to take 
this high ground in the present state of the argument, is 
either to display ignorance of the state of the question, 
or to act the schismatic. But, on the other hand, let each 
take a fair view of the arguments which influence good 
men who differ from him, and is there not reason to be- 
lieve that there would soon result such a good under- 
standing among all, that our mutual differences would 
continually decrease until there would ultimately result 
over all a rich uniformity, built up of all the particulars 
which each admired and found in the Bible ? A polemical 
spirit will never bring men together. It is a thing alto- 
gether human. But calmness and candour, conjoined with 
Christian forbearance and sustained by union prayer 
meetings, would do more in a few years than almost any 
would now be willing to believe. Help from the upper 
sanctuary might be confidingly expected. 



212 



THE MEDIJEVAL CHURCH. 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 

But the blessed spirit which animated the primitive 
church did not long continue. The miraculous attesta- 
tions of Christianity, its reasonableness and internal mo- 
ral beauty, soon attracted many persons who were more 
remarkable for their philosophical pretensions than for 
their pious dispositions. These embraced it. But as their 
minds were generally too much made up already to be 
open to experience the transforming power of the truth, 
they very naturally began to transform that trtSth into a 
more close agreement with the philosophical systems 
which prepossessed themselves. Faith was thus attenuated 
into philosophical belief ; and the doctrines of the gospel 
were involved in all the uncertainty of academic specula- 
tion. Schisms and heresies were therefore to be expected 
at this time ; and in fact they began to prevail. But these 
were not the only diseases which now broke out in the 
Christian community. 

The churches, as they continued to gather, were com- 
posed in a great measure of Pharisees on the one hand, 
who were possessed of an irradicable love of sacerdotal 
importance, and of converted heathens on the other, who 
were still, more or less, under the influence of their hea- 
then education. But that was all in favour of a worship 
consisting mainly in rites and ceremonies designed to 
affect the imagination, and of a mysterious deference to the 
priest, as a being in some respects supernatural. The mys- 
tery of spiritual despotism, therefore, did already work ; 
and, instead of the simple and spiritual worship of the pri- 
mitive church, we have plainly to expect, in the coming 
age, a ritual unbefittingly symbolical and materialist. To 
produce the latter effect, indeed, other circumstances 
conspired with the heathen education of many of the con- 
verts. In fact, it is only in a rural state of society, such 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 



213 



as that of the Patriarchs, when the human race is distri- 
buted in individual families, and all nature around seems 
to breathe of God, and invites to contemplation of Him, 
or else in that advanced state of civilization when the in- 
tellect is very fully developed, that the mass of worship- 
pers will remain long contented with a mode of worship 
altogether pure and spiritual, and divested of all material 
symbolism. In the crowded city, indeed, from which na- 
ture and its sacredness are excluded, and where contem- 
plation is more difficult and less congenial than in the 
country, and where the engrossment of the sensibilities 
in a play of social emotions, leaves less for the exalted 
feelings of religion, it is to be feared that people, in all 
ordinary states of society, whether intellectual or not, 
and whatever their religion, will ever tend to introduce 
much that is merely formal and material into their acts 
of worship, in order to open the pleasing sphere of the 
imagination when they enter the church, that they may 
enjoy there what they cannot enjoy in the street. 

It was only to be expected, therefore, that, subsequently to 
the apostolic age, the simplicity of the worship of the pri- 
mitive church should undergo a degradation, and become 
more and more formal, materialist, and symbolical ; that it 
should return, in short, to what worship was before the In- 
carnation . And are we to expect that the ministers of reli- 
gion will resist this tendency, in order to sustain the spiri- 
tuality and liberty of the Christian people ? or, are we not 
rather to expect, that, in the circumstances which we have 
mentioned, they will encourage it, in order to facilitate 
their own ascendency ? The desire of such ascendency 
is natural to man. But the more rites and ceremo- 
nies in worship, the more indispensable the priest ; and, 
consequently, the more easy his ascent into supreme influ- 
ence and power. Doubtless, there will be good and bad 
amongst the priesthood, as in all other classes of the com- 



214 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 



munity. Certain it is, however, in point of fact, that a 
sacerdotal spirit, aiming at an unchristian ascendency, 
very soon made its appearance in the Christian Church ; 
had, emanating from it, there soon appeared also a ma- 
terialist ritual, accompanied by multifarious positive pre- 
cepts, of which we find no traces in the primitive worship, 
and which nothing could have induced a Christian minis- 
try to introduce, but the consciousness that the people 
had a demand for it, — or possibly such a consideration as 
this, that the people needed it in order to awake and sus- 
tain their devotion. Not that this would be the only ex- 
cuse of the ecclesiastics. They might build on the doc- 
trine of ordination, under which they might maintain 
that they were warranted to enact as they thought 
right. They might build on the Mosaic dispensation, of 
which the proceedings of the priesthood, and positive in- 
stitutions, formed so conspicuous a part. They might build 
on the reproaches brought by the heathen against them 
which were made their excuse for persecuting them, 
namely, that they had neither altars, nor sacrifices, nor 
priests, nor temples, and were consequently atheists, — 
reproaches these, which, of course, could no longer be 
made when all these things were introduced into the 
church. They might have many excuses (excuses which, 
no doubt, would satisfy the consciences of many), that, in 
reverting to a symbolic worship, they were acting rightly, 
while yet, in point of fact, they were only ministering to 
the original taste which the religious sensibilities of fallen 
man ever have for symbolism and a rubric, rather than 
for true and spiritual worship. But whatever the causes, 
certain it is, that, after the primitive era, we see the sacer- 
dotal spirit in the clergy, and materialism in worship 
gaining ground, century after century. 

That many advantages resulted by and by, both from 
the ascendency which the spiritual power had attained, 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 



215 



and from the palpable forms in which it had clothed 
Christian worship as the times increased in barbarism, 
cannot be denied. But this can only be granted when 
we compare the influence of the church with the absence 
of a church altogether. It were easy to maintain that far 
greater advantages would have resulted had the church 
been animated during this epoch by the true spirit and 
genius of Christianity. And, in point of fact, if certain 
advantages resulted from the too despotical episcopacy 
already established, great evils resulted also. Thus, al- 
ready, in the third century, we find many bishops direct- 
ing almost all their zeal towards matters of mere exter- 
nal embellishment and mere ecclesiastical police. And, as 
might be expected, we find, along with this frame of mind, 
a demand in the same quarters for universal uniformity, 
and consequently a display of that rigourism by which 
alone such an attempt can be made with any hopes of 
success. Thus, in these days, the Bishop of Rome ex- 
communicates first the Asiatic churches, and then the 
African, because they would not agree to his views about 
the baptism of heretics, — views to which we find nothing 
analogous in the New Testament, and which were no- 
thing better than technical difficulties created by the ec- 
clesiastical spirit of the times. 

Still we should have had great cause of rejoicing, had 
the Church never degenerated farther than it had done 
as yet. But the time is now come when Christianity has, 
for the first time, to meet the full sunshine of prosperity ; 
and this has in every case been found the greatest of all 
trials to piety and virtue. The time is past, at least 
for a season, when the gospel is to be preached by mar- 
tyrdom. A change has come over the spirit of the times. 
The martyrs, by opposing their heroic spirit to the heroic 
spirit of the Romans, have won the victory. They have 
made a mighty display of that spirit which alone a Ro- 



216 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 



man could admire ; and they have carried the Romans. 
Christianity now commands the sympathies of the nation. 
It needs now only a formal recognition by the court to be- 
come the professed religion of the empire. Nor does it 
wait long for this. The emperor is not behind his people. 
Constantine declares for Christianity. In the arena of 
the Coliseum, where, but a short time before, Christians 
had been exposed to be torn by wild beasts for the savage 
entertainment of the people, the cross is planted, and the 
people are free to worship the Saviour. Christianity has 
now the ascendant. No more persecution ; nothing but 
favour now. And what is the result ? For a time all seems 
sunshine. All promises well. But can this continue ? No. 
It now became as much the interest of the heathen priest- 
hood to adopt Christianity for their religion as it was to 
persecute it before. Doubtless, therefore, the many 
would adopt it ; for the many are ever forward in doing 
what is for their own interest. But we cannot suppose 
that they would adopt it from such motives as these, 
without adapting it also, as much as possible, to heathen- 
ism, their own religion. During this epoch, therefore, 
there is every reason to believe that Christianity would 
undergo a new deterioration. 

Then came Julian, who strove to undo all that Con- 
stantine had done in favour of Christianity ; and there 
was now the same temptation to the Christian priest- 
hood to resume the rites of Paganism, that there was in 
the preceding reign for the pagan priests to assume the 
practices of Christianity. Both the flood-tide and the 
ebb, therefore, at this period of the history of the Church, 
were calculated to inundate the Church with the popu- 
lar superstitions, and to mingle much of paganism in the 
Christian worship. And, accordingly, century after cen- 
tury the Church deteriorates, and expresses in all its 
features the growing degeneracy and barbarism of the 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 



217 



times. Christian worship, instead of consisting in the 
simple prayer, the discourse, the hymn of the primitive 
church, becomes now a cumbrous mass of ceremonies, 
composed of the beggarly elements of the world. The 
priesthood, forgetful of the express declaration of St 
Paul, lord it over God's heritage, not in matters of prac- 
tice only, but of faith too. Unlike the practice of the 
apostolic Church, the people now, instead of having a 
voice in the affairs of the church (in such a matter as the 
election of deacons for instance), are allowed no voice 
whatever. The clergy represent themselves as the Church. 
Whatever is to be done, they do it all. 

If it be asked how a Christian people allowed them- 
selves to be thus lorded over and excluded, it is to be 
considered that the clergy were greatly their superiors in 
knowledge, and consequently in power ; and that tyrannous 
as the Christian priesthood might be, compared witli 
what they ought to have been, yet the people had been 
accustomed to far worse tyranny under the Pagan and 
Druidical priesthoods, which preceded the dominion of the 
Church. It may indeed be truly said of the spiritual 
despotism of the Church during the middle ages, as of 
the feudal lords over the people as serfs, that though both 
are very bad compared with what prevails now both in 
Church and State, over all the enlightened regions of Eu- 
rope, still both were deliverances to the people at the 
time when they first came into being. The preceding 
paganism and slavery were much more tyrannical than 
the ecclesiastical and feudal powers to which the people 
were now made to submit. Farther, while we see so 
much to censure in the extravagant episcopacy of the 
middle ages, and feel called upon to characterize popery 
as at once contrary to the spirit of the gospel, and posi- 
tively denounced by it, let us not fail to recognise the 
hand of a gracious God in so directing the course of his 

T 



218 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 



providence that, in the midst of much doctrinal error 
and unwarrantable usurpation, there was also at this time 
such strength and unity in the European Church, arising 
partly from the fact that the clerical office was open to all 
ranks, and formed of all classes cemented together, and 
partly from the inherent strength and unity of an epis- 
copacy, that the Christian religion in this quarter of the 
globe survived the shock which dismembered the Roman 
empire itself, and inverted the whole order of things which 
existed before. In the East and in Africa, on the other 
hand, where no such powerful hierarchy existed in the 
church, Mahomedism prevailed over Christianity, and all 
but extinguished it. 

But the Roman empire fallen, and Europe now over- 
run with barbarians, the affairs of the Church, viewed in 
relation to its primitive constitution, went on from bad to 
worse. The Christian ministry formed now out of the 
barbarous and daring races of the north, who had esta- 
blished themselves over the empire, earned their usur- 
pations to as high a pitch as had ever been done by any 
heathen priesthood. The type of a priesthood given in 
a preceding page,* and borrowed from India, fails rather 
by defect than excess. There is, however, this marked 
difference between the two, that the Indian priesthood 
had the wisdom to contrive their system so, that it 
should not be supreme in one age only but permanently 
supreme. The Brahmins are family men, heads of houses. 
They have sons who are Brahmins like their fathers. The 
priesthood is hereditary. Hence it could become, and it 
soon became a caste. But the celebacy of the clergy pre- 
vented the Romish priesthood from attaining the stability 
of a caste. Viewed even as a piece of ecclesiastical po- 
lity, it was a foolish institution. It hastened the down- 
fall of the supremacy of the Church in many ways ; and, 

* Page 143. 



THE MEDIAEVAL CHURCH. 



219 



more especially, it precipitated the downfall of the sa- 
cerdotal order by the cruel and lustful, in a word, inhu- 
man character which such an institution (except in those 
who have the special gift) is calculated to engender in 
those who conform to it. When one man is seconded by 
another, he will do things which he would be utterly 
ashamed of, if he stood alone. It gives courage to a man 
who suspects himself of inhumanity when he finds that 
his feelings are not singular, but on the contrary similar 
to those which animate and urge his companions. Hence 
men often run as bodies into greater extravagancies in 
crime than as individuals. And when any set of men 
are so circumstanced in life as to be urged by their cir- 
cumstances to similar feelings and desires, then let them 
but come together, enter into each other's confidence, 
and form together an order or corporation, and each, 
in his endeavours at self-gratification, feels himself sup- 
ported by all the others, he knows that he has at least 
their sympathies, nay, he knows that he has their wishes 
for his success, and that if he do succeed, he will be their 
hero, and they will be his followers. And thus, if the 
circumstances of the order be such as to generate guilty 
desires, that order, as it becomes strong in numbers, will 
also become strong in guilt. And so it was with the 
Romish priesthood. 

Meantime there arose, by the side of the priesthood, and 
out of the same elements, a power which, though calcu- 
lated at first to stimulate the clergy, to strain every nerte 
which policy could put forth in order to subdue it, and 
therefore calculated to develope the spiritual power to 
the utmost, yet was destined ere long to master it. Along 
with the ambitious priesthood there arose by its side the 
no less ambitious spirit of feudal heroism. And which of 
them shall triumph ? It soon appeared that the clergy 
could not subdue it. They could direct it, however. Ac- 



220 



THE MEDIEVAL CHURCH. 



cordingly, in order to identify it as much as possible with 
themselves, and confound its power with their own, they 
gave it a devotional turn. They found a religious object 
for it. They bent it on the Hoty Sepulchre. They set 
the Crusades agoing. And this scheme succeeded. Not 
only was the tension of the feudal heroism which pressed 
upon the church on all hands relieved, by having had this 
outlet opened for it, but many of the bravest chiefs, and 
consequently the most dangerous to the priesthood, were 
cut off in a distant land. But the victory on the side of 
the church was far from being complete. On the con- 
trary, the very trophies of the triumph were ruin to the 
priesthood. The warriors who returned from the Cru- 
sades came home with views enlarged, by what they have 
seen and suffered. And the young race which speedily 
filled the places of those who were carried off by war, 
were not the barbarians which their fathers were. Their 
hands were not the weaker for what they had achieved 
in the east ; and their heads and hearts are stronger for 
what they had learned there. Meantime the priesthood 
was grown more arbitrary than ever, and even insolent 
by its unparalleled successes. It was unsatisfied now with 
the exercise of the spiritual power, which could alone 
be maintained as its legitimate weapon. It made bold to 
refuse to the temporal power that which the prince has 
from God, that which he knows he has, and which he will 
yield to none. The clergy, and that in an offensive man- 
ner, began now to claim those civil immunities which 
were refused to other subjects. These, as we have seen, 
the priesthood of India has succeeded in obtaining. But 
in Europe where there never have been castes, and where 
the rights of every class of the community have always 
been better understood than in the East, the prince re- 
fused to grant the immunities which the church asked. 
He required in general terms that all who held tenures 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL. 221 

in the state and enjoyed the privileges of government, 
should contribute proportionally to the support of the 
state. Then came the fatal moment. On this delive- 
rance by the civil power, the priesthood drew the sword. 
The head of the church entered into hostile collision 
with the head of the feudal aristocracy. And whether 
shall the law or the priest conquer ? We need not in- 
quire. The time is come when both Pope and feudal 
prince must fall before a third power, friendly both to 
church and state, when rightly constituted, yet, admit- 
ting only its own supremacy, its own rightful supre- 
macy, the supremacy of reason and conscience and word 
of God. 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL. 

Under the dominion of Rome, Europe was an unity. 
The same civilizing influence spread all round from the 
imperial city. Authority was easily spread along with it ; 
and thus, while civilization progressed, authority was 
easily maintained. But when the Roman Empire was 
dismembered and ultimately destroyed, and the field 
occupied by other races, a number of foci of the new 
order of civilization, and consequently of authority, were 
lighted up. A new order of princes— a race of feudal 
chiefs, each in the midst of a territory more or less cir- 
cumscribed, set agoing a new order of things. And 
Europe from that day to this exhibits quite a contrast to 
what it did before the middle ages. Unity and the domi- 
nion of one were its characteristics in the days of the 
Roman Empire. Variety has ever since been and is now 
its characteristic ; and the balance of power among its 
constituent states is now the prevalent theory of Euro- 
pean politics. In all these features and changes the 



222 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL. 



church has naturally participated. In the church, how- 
ever, as compared with the state, we note this difference, 
that its unity was longer in being brought to a head, and 
that it survived the empire for a long period. This arose 
partly from the circumstance that the church was an 
economy of a much more recent origin than the empire ; 
and partly from this, that the ecclesiastical power always 
moves more slowly than the civil power. So much the 
better in the present instance at least. For the church 
thus formed a connecting link between the old and the 
new order of things ; and while New Europe tended to 
be all variety, the survival of the Church of Rome every 
where, after the Roman Empire had completely vanished, 
tended powerfully to maintain a certain degree of unity 
in the midst of the extreme variety which was coming 
into her, and consequently to prevent discord and mutual 
destruction between the rising states. Still, however, 
when the hour came, and at a certain lapse of time after 
the empire had ceased to exist as an unity, the church, 
which was but an image of the empire, underwent the 
same transformation which the empire itself had expe- 
rienced. The palpable unity became a palpable variety. 
And we have now no longer to speak of the church, but 
of the churches of the Revival of Europe ; the churches 
of Britain, the Church of England, the Church of Scot- 
land for instance, just as the apostles themselves speak 
of the church that is at Corinth, the church that is at 
Ephesus, the churches of Asia, &c. The Church of Rome 
did what it could to prevent such a change, unhappily for 
its own interests, happily for true religion. The church of 
Rome, imitating still the principles of the Roman Empire, 
as it had done from the first, instead of repeating the 
voice of Christ, and manifesting love, and using persua- 
sion in favour of unity, persevered in the exclusive exer- 
cise of authority. But authority, especially in matters of 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL. 



223 



religion, came with exceedingly bad grace from a court 
and clergy now become equally arrogant and profligate. 
And now Europe grows sick of it. Reason and conscience 
begin to breathe in many breasts. Some feel that it 
would give a charm and a new life to the principle of 
obedience, could they but see that the thing commanded 
was reasonable and right. Others perceive that many 
things in the church are plainly wrong. Nay, some begin 
to discover that both church and state will never be on a 
right basis till they act according to laws known and 
admitted by those who are called upon to obey. Juris- 
consults seeing that the people are weary of living in a 
state of things where there is no depending on the edicts 
of the authority, all being personal to the prince and 
arbitrary, begin to revive publicly the knowledge of civil 
law, and by making known the immortal works of classic 1 
antiquity, long concealed in the cells of the monasteries, 
they awaken the demand for constitutional liberty. By 
their side* certain enlightened Christians, made aware of 
what Christianity really is, by the perusal of the sacred 
scriptures long retained in the exclusive hands of* the 
sacerdotal order, begin to make known the sad corrup- 
tions of the gospel by the Church of Rome. At the same 
time philosophers, favoured by new lights such as never 
shone on the world before, begin to reveal the beautiful 
arrangements and beneficent laws by which the God of 
nature administers the affairs of that kingdom. 

Moreover, this great work, in which jurisprudence, 
theology, and philosophy unite in awaking a new era, is 
mightily assisted by the discovery of a new art, — a dis- 
covery the most important by far that ever has been 
made. Books are printed. The many begin to read 
and reflect. And when this is the case, it is all over 
with mere authority. And here let me not recall to the 
reader's mind the disgraceful attempts of the Romish 



224 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL, 



priesthood to put a stop to the work of general en- 
lightenment, in all that is most delightful and dear to 
the spirit of man. Let me not recall the tortures, the 
martyrdoms they inflicted on those who had the best 
eyes, and who dared to declare what they saw, now 
that Europe was becoming a valley of vision. Suffice it 
to say, the reign of the Romish priesthood was over. 
They could not put out the light, to the exclusive pos- 
session of which, among themselves hitherto, they owed 
their supremacy. " It moves, however," said Galileo, as 
he rose from his knees, — not from adoring God, though 
his wisdom appeared in new glory, when it was demon- 
strated that the sun, not the earth, was the centre of the 
system, — but from the ignominious attitude in which he 
received the inflictions of the Church of Rome, for having 
maintained that glorious truth. " It moves, however," 
said he ; and so it did. The new order of things moved 
in Europe, in spite of every effort of the Romish priest- 
hood to put a stop to it. 

But what we have here chiefly to remark is, that, in 
the progressive amelioration of all things * during this 
epoch of the revival, the church was reformed. The word 
of God began to be generally circulated, that all might 
know His will. And here and there, where the light 
was brightest, where the spirit of man was freshest, and 
the shadow of ancient Rome the faintest, evangelical 
churches arose, formed, as nearly as could be discovered, 
according to the word of God and the spirit of the pri- 
mitive churches ; and in their creeds based upon that 
great doctrine, which is at once the essential element of 
evangelical religion, and of catholicity and Christian 
feeling, the doctrine of justification by faith. And ac- 
cordingly, along with deep personal piety, we find, in the 
leading reformers, a catholicity of spirit, and an advoca- 
cy of the cause of catholicity, wonderful for the time 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL. 



225 



they lived in. Instead of those stringent views of the 
constitution of the visible church, which insist on con- 
formity to all the requirements of the dominant com- 
munion, and which have at all times characterized the 
Church of Rome, the reformers differ, yet view each other 
as Christians. They differed too widely, indeed. But 
what else could be expected from careering intellects like 
theirs, each bursting forth in its own God-sustained in- 
dividuality, from the trammels of absolute conformity to 
error ? 

It were unreasonable to expect that so great a change 
as a perfect reformation of the abuses of Rome, could be 
effected at once, or in a single age. God never in provi- 
dence, and almost never in grace, gives being to perfec- 
tion at once. Development is the watchword of His ad- 
ministration. And so it was now. When authority had 
been the only idea of government for so many centuries, 
it was not to be expected that the supremacy of the word 
of God, and the rights of reason and conscience its in- 
terpreters, in a word, the doctrine of Christian liberty, 
should be generally understood and recognised all at 
once. More especially, since it so happened that the first 
great reformers were themselves members of the Romish 
priesthood, it was not to be expected that they could di- 
vest themselves altogether of their sacerdotal feelings 
and education. No wonder if there is still a good deal 
of intolerance in Luther. No wonder that Calvin main- 
tained that heresy should be punished by the civil ma- 
gistrate, and winked at, if he did not actually second, 
the execution of the provoking but unhappy Servetus. 
It is only those men who are animated, to a certain de- 
gree, at least, by the spirit of their times, who can ever 
either excite or head great movements. In times when 
a spirit of persecution for religious differences universal- 
ly prevailed, and was deemed holy, Luther and Calvin 



226 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL. 



would never have done their business without participa- 
ting in that spirit. It says much for the Reformation 
that they should have been so moderate and mild as they 
were. To expect that there should have been at once 
all that there ought to have been, is unreasonable. Such 
maturity in such infancy, had been out of the harmony 
of things both in providence and grace. 

But more may be reasonably expected from us who 
are alive now. It is now three hundred years since the 
vineyard was let to us, but are we even yet bringing forth 
the fruits thereof ? These fruits are love, joy, peace, 

LONG-SUFFERING, GENTLENESS, GOODNESS, FAITH, MEEK- 
NESS, temperance.* But what church, or who among 
us will say that these are our characteristics, or even the 
objects we aim at ? The evangelical churches of the 
Continent are, indeed, not equally to be charged with 
fruitlessness, or rather ashes for fruit. Their position in 
reference to the Church of Rome, which is still dominant 
there, has enabled them to maintain Christian unity bet- 
ter than us, and has urged them beautifully to mutual 
recognition and love, so that, in these respects, they are 
far beyond us. And as the fruit of their love, they enjoy 
the pleasing reward of numbers being added to them 
daily, both from the ranks of infidelity and of Romanism. 
But it is far otherwise here. The Romish priesthood 
having been subdued in our country, has left us with- 
out that pressing motive to unity which has brought into 
a more kindly brotherhood the evangelical churches 
abroad, in order the better to resist the great enemy of 
primitive Christianity. It is also a general fact, that the 
Christian graces, all of them, tend always to be most 
conspicuous in the weaker party, especially if it be treat- 
ed by the stronger in any manner to which the name of 
persecution can be applied. Now with us, ever since the 

* Gal. v. 22. 



THE CHURCHES OF THE REVIVAL. 



227 



Reformation, we have been the stronger party. We 
have had little else to do, in reference to the reforma- 
tion, but to admire the event, adore God for it, and ce- 
lebrate the men who were the instruments of achieving 
our Christian liberty for us. Hence we have very natu- 
rally tended to maintain and imitate their spirit, in its 
faults, as well as in its excellencies. Thinking ourselves 
safe, when animated by the spirit of that glorious epoch, 
we have ourselves too often confounded the spirit of the 
age with the spirit of the Reformation, — too often breathed 
a spirit of authority, where nought but the voice of Christ, 
and of patience, and of persuasion, ought to have been 
heard. Each church affects an authority in reference to 
others, which it neither has the right nor the power to 
effectuate. Or if churches, acting in their corporate ca- 
pacity, do not, yet numberless individual Christians in them 
do. How many among us are hostile towards each other ! 
And are not almost all suspicious of all but the members of 
their own communion ! Now this cannot last. But whether 
it is to be brought to an end by merited judgment being 
inflicted by Popery or Infidelity, or whether a time of re- 
freshing and revival in favour of brotherly love be near at 
hand, God only knows. Certain it is, however, that our 
duty is plain. One thing only is needful. Let but unity 
of spirit, mutual esteem and love, a fraternal feeling be- 
tween all evangelical churches, and all who love the 
Lord Jesus, prevail, and all will soon be well, — all will 
soon be as it ought to be. And the churches of the Re- 
formation, instead of being a byword both to Infidelity 
and Popery, because of their schisms, will become a 
praise through the whole earth, and into them will all 
God-seeking spirits fly as a cloud, and as the doves to 
their windows.* 



Isaiah lx. 8. 



PART IV, 



LIGHT OF SCRIPTURE PRINCIPLES AND 
PRECEPTS, 



THE LAW. 
THE PROPHETS. 
THE GOSPELS. 
THE EPISTLES. 
THE WHOLE BIBLE, 



( 231 ) 



SCRIPTURE PRINCIPLES AND PRECEPTS, 



Having given a sketch of the light which sacred his- 
tory throws on the inquiry now before us, let us proceed 
to consider the subject in the light in which scripture 
principles and precepts invest it. 

Does the word of God then, viewed in its precepts and 
principles, countenance the opinion that an universal 
uniformity among all Christian churches is of the es- 
sence of Christian unity, and a state of things which 
should immediately, and at all times, be insisted on and 
aimed at — or does it not rather harmoniously, with the 
lessons of sacred history as we have just seen, and with 
the dictates of reason and conscience as we shall see 
hereafter, point to an unity in spirit in variety of form, 
as an unity of a high order in itself, and in no degree 
uncongenial with the spirit of the gospel ; and though 
not the limit of perfection, yet in the mean time not un- 
suitable, and better every way than an outward unifor- 
mity forced upon all. In other words, which of the two 
schemes do scripture principles and precepts indicate as 
the true catholicity in such a state of the Church as now 
exists, firsts that of the Church of Rome, the theory of 
which is to maintain uniformity over all at all costs — 
uniformity even to the using of the same dead language 
in worship over the whole world, and the forbidding of 
all religious inquiry among the faithful (except at the 
priesthood) ; or, second, that of the Churches of the Re- 
formation, where the rights of the individual conscience 



232 



THE LAW. 



are respected, and the holy pleasures of communion with 
God in the spontaneous utterance of the heart and reli- 
gious interchange of thought between the pious, are not 
denied, for the sake of maintaining an uniformity in the 
letter ; and where, were the principle of the catholic 
spirit of true religion rightly understood, and were there 
the charity over all which there ought ever to be, there 
would also be a beautiful unity in spirit subsisting in 
variety of forms, embracing all, and making all one in 
Christ Jesus. Let us inquire which of these two schemes 
the principles and precepts of Scripture countenance. 
And, in the first place, what say the writings of Moses % 



THE LAW. 



In the books of Moses we shall find all the precepts, I 
believe, which the prevalent taste for universal unifor- 
mity can find for its own support in the sacred volume. 
And let it be granted that such precepts do exist there 
in abundance. Let it be granted, that in the institutes 
of Moses there are so many ordinances obviously in- 
tended to establish and maintain uniformity in the wor- 
ship of God, that it is unnecessary to quote them. Al- 
though it appears, in point of fact, that the people for 
whom that dispensation was intended, did not so under- 
stand it as to refrain from variations — although it might 
be shewn that the history of the Jewish Church was after 
all but a succession of changes, and that some of these at 
least (the Feast of the Dedication, for instance, of which 
we read not in the law but in the evangelists, and which 
our Saviour himself countenanced) were not wrong nor 
displeasing to God, yet let it be granted that, during the 
Mosaic economy, the rule was that an universal unifor- 



THE LAW. 



233 



mity ought to exist, still such an admission — such a fact, 
is no argument in favour of attempting an universal uni- 
formity in the Christian church. It goes no way at all 
to weaken arguments derived from other sources in fa- 
vour of an unity in spirit in variety of form, as an orga- 
nization suitable to the Christian church in the present 
period. For it is nowhere said in Scripture, nor does it 
stand to reason, that the rule of the Mosaic dispensation 
should be applied to the Christian dispensation. There 
always is, indeed, a strong liking in a good part of the 
people in every country to perpetuate in all things, and 
especially in religion, whatever has been once established 
or has once crept into practice. It is only to be expected, 
therefore, that the Mosaic system of uniformity once pre 
vailing, it would tend to be perpetuated even after a new 
economy had been granted to replace it, and however dis- 
similar the latter might be to it. And, in point of fact, no- 
thing cost the first Christians a greater effort than to eman- 
cipate themselves from the regimen of the Mosaic economy, 
under which they were educated, and which subsisted till 
then. And on no subject did the first teachers of Christi- 
anity bestow more pains than to persuade the Christian 
converts to avail themselves of the liberty with which 
Christ had made them free. Nor is this to be wondered 
at. For here, besides the difficulty (in all cases great) of 
changing religious habits and ideas formed by education, 
there was a circumstance which gave a strength to the 
conservative principle which no other case could supply. 
The Mosaic economy was immediately instituted by God. 
And it is not without the semblance of good reason that 
one may always maintain, as a general principle, that 
what God has positively ordained in reference to the 
church, when directly organized by Himself, ought to be 
perpetuated for ever, or at least regarded as the type of 
what ought to be imitated by man, when called upon to 



u 



234 



THE LAW. 



do what God once did. In such an argument there is 
an aspect of piety which commends it in a moment to 
every mind. It is obvious, however, that there is also a 
wide door for a fallacy in it. In a word, it is only a ge- 
neral principle, and it applies in any particular case only 
when that case is analogous to the first. In reference 
to the two economies now considered as to the question 
of uniformity, the argument from the Mosaic to the 
Christian can be applied with propriety, only in so far as 
these two economies are analogous. Even granting an 
universal uniformity in the Mosaic economy, and its per- 
fect suitableness to it, nay, its necessity, in order to the 
preservation of the true religion in the then circumstan- 
ces of the world ; granting, in a word, all that can be 
conceived in favour of uniformity in reference to the old 
economy, still the enacting of such a system in reference 
to that economy, is no argument for its introduction into 
the new dispensation, unless that new dispensation be 
analogous to the old, in those respects, at least, which 
uniformity must affect. If, instead of being analogous 
to each other, these two dispensations be, on the contra- 
ry, rather contrasted in all their outward features and 
objects, then, although uniformity may have been or- 
dered by God in reference to the one, it were presump- 
tuous rather than pious to use the authority of God as 
a warrant for attempting to force uniformity upon the 
other. But why, let me ask, is this argument from ana- 
logy needed at all ? If it was the design of God that 
the regimen of the first dispensation should be carried 
down into the second and perpetuated, surely we shall 
find this intimated in the word of God, since the great 
difference between the two economies makes this so 
questionable in the eye of reason ; since the whole eco- 
nomy, where uniformity is enjoined, is replete with po- 
sitive precepts which such a matter as uniformity neces- 



THE LAW. 



235 



sarily needs in order to establish and maintain it, surely 
a positive precept is needed, then, when the new dispen- 
sation is granted, if the regimen of the old and its uni- 
formity are to be carried down into the new. At such 
an event as the incarnation, which seems in every respect 
so complete a winding up of a typical dispensation, what 
warrant can we have for upholding that economy, and 
repeating its now unmeaning forms, and insisting on its 
now superseded ordinances, unless we have a positive 
command to do so ? But, far from this, there is no such 
precept in the New Testament as that we must perpe- 
tuate the old dispensation. All the intimations by our 
Saviour and the apostles tend the other way. But though 
it had been otherwise, the very fact of the Divine orders 
given under the old dispensation being not repeated under 
the new, calls for the inference that they have served 
their purpose, and have passed away with the dispensa- 
tion to which they belonged. 

Had the two economies been analogous, the case would 
indeed have been different ; but, as has already been ob- 
served, they are much more remarkable for their contrast 
than their agreement. The Mosaic economy is indeed, 
as it were, the embryo of the Christian. But in matters 
external, this very relation argues difference rather than 
agreement. There is the same life in the embryo, no 
doubt, as in the full-blown flower. The latter is only the 
former continued and expanded. But in being thus ex- 
panded, it is also completely altered both in form and 
function. And as with the plant, so with the church 
this alteration is so great, that the economy which was 
suitable to the first dispensation or embryo state of the 
church, may be quite unsuitable to the more mature and 
expanded form. Thus, as the seed, in order to the pre- 
servation of its life as a seed, requires insulation from 
all surrounding influences, and is, in fact, most wisely 



236 



THE LAW. 



and beautifully organized (often enclosed in a shell, for 
instance), in order to effect this object, while the plant, 
on the other hand, requires, in order to its well-being, to 
be brought into contact with all the surrounding ele- 
ments, and is wisely and beautifully organized, to enable 
it to do so ; — as the seed is a small compact body, closely 
enwrapped, while the plant is a body of very varied form, 
its roots fixed in the earth, and seeking nourishment 
from the soil all around, and its branches stretching up on 
all hands into the atmosphere, whence they derive mois- 
ture and vital air, and become mingled with all things 
around, — so the Jewish economy, like the seed, was wholly 
organized for insulation among the surrounding nations 
(which was indeed the essential condition of its exis- 
tence). The Christian economy, on the other hand, is 
designed for expansion on all hands, so as even to em- 
brace the whole world. This is the ordinance of the 
passover, said the Lord by Moses, " there shall no 
stranger eat thereof." But as to the gospel, these were 
our Saviour's words just before He was received up into 
heaven, to sit on the right hand of God, " Go ye into all 
the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." 
The two dispensations are altogether contrasted in re- 
spect of sphere. The Mosaic was intended for one na- 
tion only. The gospel was intended for being diffused 
over the whole world. In the Christian economy, we 
are therefore to expect an organization like that of the 
plant, that is, an unity in sap and in spirit, but a form 
changing with its place and calling, as root, branch, or 
leaf, everywhere varied, in short, so as to be everywhere 
suitable to its sphere of action. 

An absolute unity or uniformity over all, was plainly 
that constitution which suited best the purposes for 
which the Mosaic economy was designed. For in the 
first place, that economy being limited to a single na- 



THE LAW. 



237 



tion, an uniformity over all was attainable in the highest 
possible degree. In the second place, as that economy 
had for its object not to unite all the surrounding nations 
into one fraternity with itself, but rather to insulate and 
separate the chosen people from all around, in order to 
an uncontaminated preservation of true religion, till the 
fulness of the time for the incarnation, the closing up 
of the whole ecclesiastical constitution into as absolute 
an unity as possible, was plainly the best means that can 
be conceived for accomplishing the end proposed. A 
system of positive ordinances sent down fresh from hea- 
ven, was obviously a most effective and divine method of 
erecting a strong barrier between the chosen people and 
the surrounding nations, whose rituals were already or- 
ganized, according to the traditions and inventions of a 
dark and cruel superstition. The plan which was taken, 
therefore, was the fittest and the wisest that can be con- 
ceived to enable the chosen people to fulfil their calling. 
The command, that all the ordinances of the law should 
be observed by every worshipper, according to an unity 
in form, place, and time, was the very system required, 
in order to make an economy whose chief end was insu- 
lation, as complete as the elements of human nature 
admit of, and therefore viewed in relation to its objects, 
such an economy is worthy of our highest admiration. 
Had the rites and practices of the religion of the Jews 
been left free, had a variety of form, limited only by the 
unity of the faith, and the suggestions of the reason and 
conscience of the worshippers being permitted, the Jewish 
people could not have fulfilled its calling as God's pecu- 
liar people. In that case, that people, thinking, and 
feeling, and acting, like all other people, under the in- 
fluence of a social and imitative nature, would soon have 
merged into the surrounding nations, and consequently 
would soon have lost, along with them, the knowledge 



238 



THE LAW. 



and the worship of the true God, and would soon have 
indulged along with them in all the unholy acts of an 
abominable idolatry. 

But in all respects, the Christian economy is wholly 
different from the Jewish. It is the leaven which is to 
leaven the whole world with its own blessed spirit. It 
is the great tree of which the other is but the seed ; and 
instead of being hedged round and forbid, like the 
other, all the birds of heaven are invited and destined 
to come and build their nests among its branches. It is 
the child ever growing in stature, and in favour with 
God and man, which is called to cultivate the world, and 
of which the other was but the womb in the east. In- 
stead of having to conceal and wrap up the truth for a 
time, like the Mosaic economy, the gospel is designed to 
be the pillar and support of the truth for ever. Instead 
of being required to insulate one nation among those 
which lie around, it is designed to ramify and flow through 
all nations, to diffuse its spirit over them all, and unite 
them all into one enlightened fraternity. Both as to ex- 
tent and function, therefore, the Christian economy is 
quite the reverse of the Mosaic. The argument from the 
one to the other, therefore, in every question touching 
ritual and polity, is rather an argument of contrast than 
of analogy. And an absolute unity or uniformity over 
all, though at once possible, desirable, and actual, in re- 
ference to the Mosaic economy, may be altogether con- 
trary to the design of God, and both unsuitable and im- 
possible in reference to the Christian, at least until that 
time come, when, by the general diffusion of truth, and 
the general dominion of love, the whole world becomes 
as one nation. To argue, therefore, from the Jewish 
economy to the Christian in favour of an absolute unity 
in the church in reference to the present times, is to 
argue in the face of every urgent reason, which Scrip- 



THE LAW. 



239 



ture supplies. It is nothing less than to maintain that, 
because God instituted for the peculiaF circumstances of 
a peculiar people a peculiar state of things designed by 
Him (as we know from His own word) to exist for a 
limited time only, and to serve during that limited time 
an obviously valuable purpose, therefore, that peculiar 
system should be kept up after that time has elapsed, 
and the economy which belonged to it has passed away, 
and been replaced by another of a higher order. 

Yet let us not wonder that a strong prepossession in 
favour of positive precepts, limiting all to universal uni- 
formity everywhere, should still prevail. It has been 
stated how difficult the apostles found it, even in an age 
of inspiration and of miraculous gifts, to prevent the 
first Christians from modelling the Christian upon the 
Jewish economy. It has been shewn how difficult they 
found it to establish the doctrine of Christian liberty. 
And when we consider how little pains are now taken 
even by pious persons, to obtain a sound and connected 
view of revelation ; and that with many readers of the 
Bible, neither time, nor place, nor manners, nor any 
principle of just interpretation, is attended to ; but, on 
the contrary, that that fictitious unity called a verse, 
provided only it be found anywhere in the Bible, is con- 
sidered equally relevant to any question, it is not to be 
wondered at, if the practice of Judaizing be still continued 
by many. It is only what is to be expected, if the an- 
cient prejudice in favour of an universal uniformity in 
religion still haunt the minds of many, especially among 
those who make use of the Bible merely to support their 
religious feelings not to form them ; as ever tends to be 
the case with almost all who owe their religion to a na- 
turally devotional temperament merely. Let not these 
remarks, however, lead the reader to undervalue the 
writings of Moses in reference to the question which now 



240 



THE LAW. 



engages us. The Pentateuch is in reference to the ques- 
tion of Christian unity, as in reference to every other 
question in true religion of inestimable value. But in 
order to its right use, it must be studied and viewed in 
the greater light in which our Saviour and the apostles 
invest it. It must not be rapidly turned over, and a 
verse here, a verse there, fixed on to serve a purpose. 
It must be studied. 

If it be asked how it ought to be studied, in order 
to extract from it the true idea of Christian unity, it is 
to be answered, that plainly we are not to look for the 
unity which the church universal ought to possess, by 
directing our regards exclusively to the circumstances of 
the Jews subsequently to the birth of Moses. On the 
contrary, we ought plainly to look to the constitution of 
the church, in the whole display that Moses gives of it, 
that is, from the fall till the time of the Judges. This 
done, however, the results obtained are evidently not to 
be lightly esteemed. Nay, they may, on the other hand, 
be safely regarded as a specimen of what the church of 
Christ, viewed as a whole, ought to display, or at least 
may display, without ceasing to be one church. For in 
that successive picture, or revolving panorama, which 
opens with the view of our first parents, not yet expelled 
from paradise, but listening to the promise that the seed 
of the woman should bruise the serpent's head, and which 
closes with the view of Moses dying on Mount Pisgah, we 
have, in a successive series, an exhibition of the church, 
as constituted, in various states of society, various deve- 
lopments of human nature, such as, when taken together 
and viewed simultaneously, give a very good representa- 
tion of the human family, as constituted at any one time 
in different regions of the world now. We have, there- 
fore, only to conceive the successive peoples who consti- 
tuted and represented the church on earth during the 



THE LAW. 



241 



epoch which the books of Moses embrace, as all alive at 
once, or present before the mind at once ; and we have a 
variety of races and peoples analogous to that which exists 
at any one time on the face of the earth, and conse- 
quently, analogous to such a community as Christianity 
is designed for. And, in these circumstances, it is a le- 
gitimate inference, that the church, in both epochs, may 
be expected to display the same order and amount of 
unity, in all that relates to the practice of true religion. 
Now, looking to the unity which the church displayed 
during the primitive epoch referred to, the epoch which 
embraces Adam, Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Joseph, 
and Moses, in a word, the whole progress of man from 
the rural patriarchal state, to the city and the theocratic 
republic, it will be found that it is widely different from 
an absolute unity. It will be found that its articles at 
one time were extremely few, at another more numerous, 
— that its worship was at one time extremely simple and 
unpretending, at another extremely complicated and mag- 
nificent. It will also be found that its polity displayed 
the same variety ; in a word, that its entire constitution 
was changed from time to time, and progressively deve- 
loped, so that it might be always co-ordinate with the 
spiritual wants of the people who lived successively. But, 
however varied, it may always be easily discovered, also, 
that it ever manifested the spiritual unity of true reli- 
gion. Since it varied in every external, however, its unity 
was an unity of spirit in variety of forms and develop- 
ments. And thus the argument from the books of Moses, 
so far as it is good, goes all the way to prove that a va- 
ried unity is an unity not unsuitable for the true religion 
and such as God may be expected to permit and to use 
in the Christian church. 

It is also well worthy of remark, that the portion of 
the church's history, which we have just been reviewing; 



242 



THE PROPHETS. 



supplies us with certain types or representatives of the 
church, such as the cherubim and the ark of Noah, which 
serve well to illustrate the truth which has just been 
made out ; and which, while they shew the unity of the 
church, illustrate no less significantly the variety of forms 
in which that unity may be clothed. With regard to the 
ark of Noah, nothing need be said, since, in point of va- 
riety, it was an epitome of the whole creation, and with 
respect to the cherubim, the argument thence has been 
sufficiently dwelt upon already. Let it therefore be only 
remarked further, how harmonious is the whole evidence 
during the pentateuchal epoch, in favour of the thesis, 
which it is our object to commend to the pious reader. 

THE PROPHETS. 

Having thus considered the argument derived from the 
Mosaic scriptures, let us now prepare the way for the 
New Testament, by considering what intimations the 
prophets give on the subject of Christian unity. Of the 
inspired utterance of the prophets, it may indeed be al- 
leged that they generally admit of a too great latitude 
of interpretation, to be of any great use in an inquiry 
like the present. It may also be alleged that they were 
plainly never intended for it. And, indeed, it must be 
admitted, that most frequently they refer exclusively to 
the futurity of that nation merely to which the prophets 
themselves' belonged, and consequently, are not always re- 
levant to the church universal, which embraces Gentiles 
as well as Jews. Nevertheless, prophecy has a certain 
weight in the argument before us, and ought not to be 
passed over. What, then, is its testimony ? A few words 
will be sufficient to shew, that, so far as it goes, prophecy 
indicates that the unity of the Christian church, for many 
ages at least, shall be found to be of that kind which has 



THE PROPHETS. 



243 



been deduced in the preceding paragraph from the Mosaic 
writings, — namely, not an universal uniformity or abso- 
lute sameness over all, but an unity of spirit in variety 
of form and manifestation. 

Even in reference to the futurity of the single race 
which they themselves belonged to, the prophets, how 
glowing soever the representation they give of the future 
destinies of their nation, never picture as desirable any 
such consummation as the loss by each tribe of its own 
name and characteristics, and the merging of all variety 
into universal uniformity. They intimate only the va- 
nishing of the angry passions, from before that spirit of 
harmony and love, which should unite all into one under 
the Messiah. 

They do not say that Judah will merge into Ephraim, 
and Ephraim into Judah. But, says Isaiah, 

The jealousy of Ephraim shall cease, 

And the enmity of Judah shall be no more ; 

Ephraim shall not be jealous of Judah, 

And Judah shall not be at enmity with Ephraim.* 

Again. Ezekiel,f seemingly referring to the same times, 
says, " Take to thee one stick, and write upon it, For 
Judah, and for the children of Israel his companions : 
then take another stick, and write upon it, For Joseph, 
the stick of Ephraim, and for all the house of Israel his 
companions, and join them one to another into one stick, 
and they shall become one in thine hand;" in which 
words, it is to be observed, that all are not to be written 
on the same stick, but each on its own, and then the pe- 
culiar sticks of each tribe to be united into one. 

But not to enter more minutely on such investigations, 
against the validity of which to our present argument 
many objections may be urged, and which are, after all, 
irrelevant to our present purpose, since they relate to 

* Isaiah xi. 13. Lowth. t Ezekiel xxxvii. 16, 



244 



THE PROPHETS. 



the destiny of a single nation only, not to the church 
universal, let us turn at once to the justly celebrated and 
inimitably beautiful passage in Isaiah, which may be 
taken as the epitome and representative of all that the 
prophets have uttered as to the unity of the church under 
the reign of the Messiah. It is in the eleventh chapter. 
There he says, — 

Then shall the wolf take up his abode with the lamb, 
And the leopard lie down with the kid ; 

And the calf, and the young lion, and the fatling shall come together : 

And a little child shall lead them. 

Together shall their young ones lie down ; 

And the lion shall eat straw like the ox, 

And the suckling shall play on the hole of the asp, 

And on the den of the basilisk shall the new wean'd child lay his hand- 

They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain. 

For the earth shall be full of the knowledge of Jehovah, 

And the waters that cover the depths of the sea. 

And it shall come to pass in that day, 

The root of Jesse, which standeth for an ensign to the people ; 
Unto him shall the nations repair, 
And his resting-place shall be glorious. 

Now, here we have a description of unity such as none 
surely can refrain from admiring, none refrain from long- 
ing for. But wherein, after all, does that unity consist f 
What makes the resting-place of the Redeemer glorious % 
Is it a sameness and uniformity everywhere, and over 
all? In what respect does the prophet represent the 
people as one ? First ; they are one, in that they all re- 
pair to the Messiah, who stands as an ensign for all. 
Secondly ; they are one in that, however savage by nature, 
being now transfigured by grace into harmlessness and 
love, they live together in mutual concord and peace, so 
that there is nothing to hurt or to destroy over all the holy 
mountain, over all the church. Such is the harmony, 
such the unity, which reigns universally ! But such also 
are the limits of the church's unity, at least such are the 



THE PROPHETS. 



245 



limits here pictured by the evangelical prophet. Chris- 
tian unity is here represented as existing amid all the 
original variety of the creation itself. And does not even 
all the beauty of the description depend on this very va- 
riety 1 Let the reader but contemplate for a moment the 
scenery which the prophet places before the eye, he will 
not fail to discover that this is the fact. He will find that 
the lion, the leopard, the basilisk, contribute each its own 
share to the beauty of the scene, as well as the lamb and 
the little child. The beautiful and the heavenly thing is 
to see all the various creatures lying down together, dwell- 
ing together, -playing together, all fierceness away from the 
powerful, all fear away from the feeble ; and all in richly 
varied harmony of form and endowment, breathing toge- 
ther, in mutual confidence and repose, on the holy moun- 
tain, while it glows under the peaceful and love-inspiring 
beams of the Sun of Righteousness. 

And is not such variety of form and endowment, when 
thus embraced by such perfect unity in spirit, truly beau- 
tiful, and fit for the glorious resting-place of Him who is 
himself at one time represented as the Lion of the Tribe 
of Judah, at another as the Lamb of God, and at another 
as slaying the wicked with the breath of his lips ?* How 
changed the scene, if, instead of this beauteous variety, 
displaying, in manifold shapes and endowments, all the 
riches of life reposing on the varying acclivities of a moun- 
tain, there were on all hands, and over all, on a level 
plain, nothing but one form, one species only, say even 
the sweetest and the best, say at once, a flock of lambs on 
a meadow ! How dull, inglorious, and effeminate, such 
uniformity ! It would never do for Isaiah. 

So far, then, as this description of the evangelical 
prophet is applicable to our present inquiry, it does not 
lead us to expect more in the Christian Church than an 
* Isaiah xi. 4. 



246 



THE PROPHETS. 



unity of spirit in variety of form and endowment. It is 
even opposed to the idea, that an absolute unity or uni- 
formity over all would be more beautiful. To these re- 
marks we might add such illustrations as the Psalms 
afford. Nor are they few. More especially, in the 48th 
Psalm, the church is compared to Jerusalem in all its 
variety of bulwarks, palaces, and towers. And to this 
we might subjoin a description of the bride's attire in the 
Song of Solomon, in which her glory and beauty is in 
like manner chiefly laid in the variety of her ornaments. 
In a word, all these passages point equally to a state of 
things in which, along with unity of spirit, there is great 
variety of form. But let these remarks suffice on the poetic 
books. Turn we now to the New Testament. 

Yet may we not touch the New ere we part with the 
Old, by calling to the reader's remembrance the vision of 
Peter, so similar in many respects to the above descrip- 
tion of Isaiah, the vision whereby he was instructed in 
the first great principle of Catholicity, to which, along 
with his countrymen in general, he was, till then, too 
much a stranger ? The time was now come when it be- 
came the duty and the privilege of this apostle to begin 
the great work of " binding and loosing," binding to the 
moral law, loosing from the ceremonial, which all the 
apostles afterwards, but he alone in the first instance, 
was charged with. Cornelius, the reputedly unclean 
Gentile, must be visited ; and the apostle must be pre- 
pared for this act, deemed by his countrymen, and till 
now by himself also, to indicate a great dereliction of re- 
ligious principle. Accordingly, for the purpose of enlight- 
ening him, a vision was given to him, which is thus re- 
lated in the Acts of the Apostles.* " On the morrow, 
as they went on their journey, and drew nigh unto the 
city, Peter went up upon the house-top to pray about the 
* Acts x. 9. 



THE PROPHETS. 



247 



sixth hour. And he became very hungry, and would 
have eaten : but, while they made ready, he fell into a 
trance, and saw heaven opened, and a certain vessel de- 
scending unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at 
the four corners, and let down to the earth ; wherein 
were all manner of four-footed beasts of the earth, and 
wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. 
And there came a voice to him, Rise, Peter ; kill, and 
eat. But Peter said, Not so, Lord ; for I have never 
eaten any thing that is common or unclean. And the 
voice spake unto him again the second time, What God 
hath cleansed, that call thou not common. This was 
done thrice ; and the vessel was received up again into 
heaven." Such was the vision, and the apostle speedily 
understood it ; and, when he met Cornelius, he thus ex- 
pressed the lesson he had been taught by it : " Ye know 
how it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to 
keep company or to come unto one of another nation ; 
but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man 
common or unclean." 

Now, from this narrative it appears, that the great 
sheet, with all the life in it, which St Peter saw, repre- 
sented the Christian Church. From this passage of holy 
scripture, therefore, similarly to that pictured by Isaiah 
on the holy mountain, we learn that the church, in so far 
as it is represented by these images, consists in great va- 
riety of forms in unity of spirit only. In both there is an 
unity — that of love in the vision of Isaiah, that of purity 
in the vision of Peter. But, along with this, there is a 
variety so great, that in both cases the church is repre- 
sented by the whole variety of the creation. Ought we 
not, then, during the present epoch to which these scrip- 
tures and our duties apply, — the epoch intermediate be- 
tween the first and the second coming of our Saviour, — ■ 
consent to such a state of things ? 



248 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 

The peculiar characteristics of our Saviour's preaching- 
are a spirit of all-pervading piety, all-embracing bene- 
volence, and uncompromising holiness. These graces He 
breathes in his every utterance, and commends in His 
every discourse. Many a precept does He give, enjoining 
and illustrating them. And His own love to the world, 
nay, His own life does He give, not only as an atonement 
for the sins of the world, but also as a pattern of that mu- 
tual love and self-denial which ought to animate the re- 
deemed children of God. u A new commandment (says 
He) I give unto you, That ye love one another ; as I have 
loved you, that ye also love one another."* 

Nor let us wonder that He should call this a new com- 
mandment. For, not to speak of the supreme excellence 
of that love of His which He gives as the type and pat- 
tern of that which He commends, it is to be remarked, 
that the whole doctrine of love which He taught was new 
in those times. The Pharisees, with a semblance of rea- 
son indeed, but, in reality, prompted only by their own 
exclusive and wicked hearts, generalizing the facts and 
necessities of their nation's history into permanent princi- 
ples of morality, had altogether obscured the benevolent 
character of the law of Moses. They had even made it 
of none effect by their traditions. Thus, because they 
found their forefathers commanded to exterminate cer- 
tain idolatrous nations, in order to make place in the fit 
region of the earth-f- for a people who might preserve the 
worship of the true God until the world should be ready 
for the Incarnation of the Son of God — because they thus 
found the heroic spirit of man made use of as a weapon 
of God, in order to serve a mighty purpose which a heroic 
* John xiii. 34. f See page 168. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



249 



spirit could alone effect, they seized on this fact as a cover 
and sanction for the spirit of hatred and vengeance which 
animated them. By a vicious generalization, they con- 
secrated that spirit, and made it a general principle in 
religion, " Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine 
enemy." * Nay, not content with the wide field for 
hatred which the latter part of the precept opens up, they 
narrowed the former most shamefully. To the term 
neighbour they gave sojestricted a sense, that they looked 
upon, as their greatest enemies, those whom we should 
call their nearest neighbours. These were the Samari- 
tans. And to such a pitch did a Jew carry his hatred of 
a Samaritan, that he would not even ask a drink of water 
from him.t But their antipathies were not confined to 
the Samaritans only. It was, as has been already stated, 
held contrary to the law (a law which a Jew's natural 
pride would plainly render very congenial to him to ob- 
serve) to have any social intercourse with any man of an- 
other nation. In a word, the Jews were hateful, and 
hating one another ; and this was over all. And, but that 
the love of money overcomes all difficulties, we should 
find the same spirit in that people still. Let any one en- 
ter a synagogue, and attempt to look on the same prayer 
book with one of the worshippers, the Jew will shrink or 
steal away from him, eyeing him askance with a look full 
of hatred and contempt. So ruinous, even to the ordi- 
nary principles of humanity, does a conceit of exclusive 
religious privilege prove when redeeming grace is wanting 
in the heart. 

But do we see any trace of any thing like this in Je- 
sus ? Nay. In His every feature the contrast which He 
displays to this, though it was the all-pervading spirit 
of His age and nation, is itself a most convincing proof of 
His divinity. For as to the merely great men of history 
* Matt. v. 43. t John iv. 9. 



250 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



they are just made by their times, — they are just the spi- 
rits of their times. They are acknowledged to be great 
only because they unite many voices in their own, and 
thus are oracles by which the many speak, and by whom, 
therefore, the many are pleased and flattered, as every 
one is by an echo of his own opinions. But it was quite 
otherwise with our Saviour. Because it became Him to 
fulfil all righteousness, He did indeed observe the law of 
Moses, and during all His life He gave a perfect exam- 
ple of what a son of Abraham ought to be. But He never 
identified himself with the Jews of his own times. On 
the other hand, He speaks of them as a race wholly dis- 
tinct from himself, and having no sympathies with Him. 
" Am I a Jew?" said Pilate; " Thine own nation and 
the chief priests have delivered thee unto me. What 
hast thou done ?" Pilate looks on Him merely as a Jew. 
But our Saviour answers, " My kingdom is not of this 
world. If my kingdom were of this world, then would 
my servants fight, that I should not be delivered to the 
Jews" In which words He contrasts himself with His 
countrymen according to the flesh, as He did with his re- 
lations according to the flesh, when he said, " Whosoever 
doeth the will of My Father who is in heaven, the same 
is My brother, and sister, and mother." He stands out 
both from country and kindred. He stands alone. He 
is the Son of God. The character of our blessed Saviour 
never could be explained by supposing Him to be merely 
a great man. No mere man could ever emancipate him- 
self so completely as He did from the spirit of His times. 
He existed and he preached in direct contradistinction to 
that spirit and those times. In the midst of hardhearted- 
ness and hatred, <c A root in a dry soil, He grew up a 
tender plant." Though forced to breathe an impure at- 
mosphere of hatred and hypocrisy during all His life, 
still He remained altogether uncontaminated by it ; and 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



251 



every feeling that ever moved in His heart, every truth 
that ever flowed from His lips, was full of heaven and of 
humanity. 

How cuttingly to the heart of the wicked lawyer who 
stood up and tempted; Him, and to us how beautifully 
and convincingly does He restore to the term neigh- 
bour its legitimate import, by the parable of the Good 
Samaritan ! And how completely does He annul the 
false generalization of the Pharisees, who maintained 
that, because their fathers were forbid to give peace to 
the enemies of Jehovah,* therefore they were to hate all 
who were their own enemies. " Ye have heard (says 
He) that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love 
your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them 
that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use 
you and persecute you, that ye may be the children of 
your Father who is in heaven ; for He maketh His sun 
to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on 
the just and on the unjust."-)- But it is needless to at- 
tempt to quote what our blessed Saviour has said in 
favour of reciprocal kind offices between man and man, 
and mutual love among all. This were to write down 
the whole gospels. Nay, though this were done, it were 
not all the truth. For the Evangelist tells us, that all 
that is recorded is but a tithe and scantling of what Jesus 
actually said and did. 

True, He also cautioned his disciples very solemnly 
against supposing that they were to enjoy, in their per- 
sonal history, the love and peace which He inculcated. 
He taught them that they were only to be the ministers 
of that peace, not the partakers of it. He knew that the 
spirit of the world, always heroic in persecuting piety, 
would feel a sting in the very glance of these advocates 
* Deut. xxiii. 6. t Matt. v. 43. 



252 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



of love and peace ; and for the hatred against them 
which that feeling would beget, He prepares His disci- 
ples. " Behold I send you forth as sheep in the midst 
of wolves.* . . . Beware of men. . . . The bro- 
ther shall deliver up the brother to death, and the fa- 
ther the child, and the children shall rise up against 
their parents, and cause them to be put to death. And 

ye shall be hated of all men for my name's sake 

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth. I am 
not come to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to 
set a man at variance against his father, and the daugh- 
ter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against 
her mother-in-law, and a man's foes shall be those of his 
own household." Such, did He warn His disciples, were 
to be the inevitable consequences of confessing His name, 
and of adhering to the doctrine of the cross, in the midst 
of a cruel, proud, and persecuting world. And so it hap- 
pened. It is, indeed, truly worthy of remark, that though, 
in religion, the policy of Rome was to grant toleration to 
all, though, in civil law, none were punished by Rome but 
when a crime was proved against them, yet it went quite 
otherwise in Rome with the followers of Jesus. If they 
but confessed the name of Christ, that was enough to bring 
them to the rack, to the arena. Literally, as our Saviour 
forewarned them, they were persecuted solely " for his 
name's sake." And truly dreadful were the sufferings 
which were inflicted on them. 

Yet the sufferings of the first Christians were not un- 
mitigated evils. On the contrary, as it is only through 
death that we attain to life, and as it is the peculiar cha- 
racteristic of Divine Providence to bring good out of evil, 
so was it only by martyrdom that the peaceful spirit of 
the gospel could be preached effectually to the Roman. 
Reason went but a little way with him. In the Roman 
* Matt. x. 16. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



253 



language the word for virtue and for valour is the same. 
A martyrdom, therefore, a scene of heroism, was the ar- 
gument which told best in Rome. And when the Roman 
saw the Christian expiring, wrapt in a peaceful devotion 
which no tortures could subdue or even disturb, he was 
forced to conclude that there must be something truly 
divine in that religion, which could inspirit the believers 
in it to endure such tortures and such deaths rather than 
abjure it — that religion which could support men in such 
tranquillity in the midst of such excruciating torments. 

Nor was it at that period of the history of the Church 
only, that martyrdom had fruits unto righteousness. All 
after ages have reaped them, and there is need for ga- 
thering them still. For as there are not a few principles 
and practices which can neither be proved to the satisfac- 
tion of all nor yet disproved, neither by reason nor revela- 
tion nor by both conjoined, but only by making the mo- 
ral experiment and marking the result, so has it only been 
by inflicting persecution for religious differences, and by 
noting the result, that the rightness of liberty of conscience 
has at last been proved. Nay, it is still needful to look to 
the same source of evidence, in order to prevent religi- 
ous persecution. For, wherever there is an exclusive 
spirit, there is one who will not want arguments in fa- 
vour of persecution on account of religious differences. 
And, doubtless, in the future, just as in the past, cer- 
tain men, animated by zeal without knowledge, will ever 
feel the desire to put down religious differences by force. 
The history of preceding persecutions, therefore, is still 
valuable ; for they all unite in shewing, that, except when 
persecution is carried to the utter extermination of the 
obnoxious party, to persecute even error is only to per- 
petuate it. And no wonder. Persecution places a man 
into the attitude of a hero ; and hence, when arguments 
might soon have failed him, persecution gives him a new 



254 



THE EVANGELISTS 



opportunity of shewing by his deeds how sincerely he be- 
lieves and will defend his opinions. Besides, after having 
been proved to be a bad theologian, one feels that it is 
some consolation to have an opportunity of shewing that 
he is a brave man. Nor is it his bravery only that a man 
proves when he suffers for his faith. Even as to the ar- 
gument, he who dies in the cause has always the last 
word that is listened to. 

But it is not generalities only that we find in the gos- 
pels on the subject of Christian harmony. Our Saviour 
has given from His own hps a most important deliverance 
on the subject of Christian unity. He uttered it only a 
few hours before He was betrayed, and it is full of the 
solemnity of that dreadful night. It forms a part of that 
divine prayer which He breathed in the hearing of his 
disciples, after He had instituted the sacrament of the 
Supper, and before He fell into His agony in the garden. 
In that memorable prayer, our Lord's leading petition 
for His disciples, is that they may be one. " Holy Father 
(says He), keep through (or in) Thine own name those 
whom Thou hast given me, that they may be one as we 
are." * And this petition for His immediate disciples, He 
afterwards extends so as to embrace all future believers. 
" Neither pray I (continues He) for these alone, but for 
them also who shall believe on me through their word, 
that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me and 
I in Thee, that they also may be one in us, that the world 
may believe that Thou hast sent me." Now, after these 
words from our Saviour's own lips, there is certainly no 
room even for a moment's doubt, that it is His will and 
desire that all Christians should be intimately one. 

But, from these words, it is equally certain that the 
unity among His disciples, for which our Saviour prays, 
is wholly of a spiritual nature, and, in point of fact, does 

* John xvii. 11. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



255 



not depend on external forms or ecclesiastical circum- 
stances at all. And were we to extend His words, so as 
to apply them to external matters, we should be no more 
led to the idea of universal uniformity, than we have 
been by considering the intimations of Christian unity 
given by the prophets. Thus the instance which our 
Saviour gives as the type of Christian unity, is that 
which exists between his Father and Himself, that is, the 
unity which subsists between the Infinite, who is eter- 
nally the same invisible, formless, all-pervading spirit, 
and the Immanuel, who, though truly one with the Invi- 
sible, is also God with us, is man as well as God, posses- 
ses, in one aspect, the form and being of a man, as well 
as in another aspect, the formlessness and eternity of 
God. But the form of man is visible and limited, and 
essentially dissimilar to pure spirit. It is also ever vary- 
ing in itself, changing from infancy to childhood, from 
childhood to youth, from youth to manhood, from man- 
hood to age, in a word, from day to day, from hour to 
hour. So that, in the instance which our Saviour gives 
as the type of that unity which He prays for among His 
followers, we have an unity which, far from being an 
absolute uniformity, is an unity in spirit, a spiritual 
unity in striking difference and variety of manifestation 
and form. 

But care ought ever to be taken in the interpretation 
of Scripture, not to draw more from its language than 
it appears, in the eye of a sober mind, to have been 
designed to convey. Let the reader, therefore, attach 
what value he pleases to the preceding remarks ; about 
this there is no room for doubt, that the grand doctrine 
which our Saviour teaches in this passage of Scripture, 
is the truly spiritual nature of Christian unity. " I pray, 
(says He) that they may be one in us." Hence it ap- 
pears that the essence of Christian unity, the mechanism, 



256 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



so to speak, by which Christian unit} r is established and 
maintained, is, in point of fact, not any stated agree- 
ment among Christians themselves as to creed, ritual,, 
polity, &c, but altogether of a spiritual nature, a tie to 
the Father and the Son, through the Son. For any 
thing that is here affirmed to the contrary, it may indeed 
be most desirable that Christians should be at one in 
all the outward particulars of ritual and ecclesiastical 
constitution ; but though they were, that outward agree- 
ment would not constitute the ground and tie of their 
unity. The ground and tie of Christian unity, according 
to this Scripture, is not one of words between man and 
man. It is a holier and more divine and immutable tie, — 
a tie of spirit and of life, proceeding from Christ, and 
spiritually and virtually uniting all to him, and through 
him to one another, as branches are united to and in the 
vine, as the body is united to the head. 

And from this view, a very important fact results. For 
hence it follows, that though unhappily Christians should 
differ among themselves, and even go so far as to ex- 
communicate each other, still, unless by so doing, they 
can destroy each other's Christianity (and nothing goes 
farther than schism to do so), they cannot destroy the 
true unity of the Church. " If the foot shall say, Be- 
cause I am not the hand, I am not of the body, is it 
therefore not of the body ? If the ear should say, Be- 
cause I am not the eye, I am not of the body, is it there- 
fore not of the body ?" * 

The same truly spiritual view is further stated by 
our Saviour, when He adds, at the 22d verse, — " The 
glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that 
they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and 
Thou in me, that they also may be made perfect in 
one, and that the world may know that Thou hast 

* 1 Cor. xii. 15. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



257 



sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me." 
Now, whatever view we adopt as to the exact meaning 
of the term " glory" here used, these additional words 
of our Saviour do only and at once unite with those of 
the previous part of this prayer, in illustrating the view 
of Christian unity which has just been given. They 
equally imply the fact, that the true, or so to speak, the 
physical tie between Christians, is wholly of a heavenly 
and spiritual nature, and neither lies between Christian 
and Christian, in a direct line, nor depends on any in- 
fluences or views reciprocating between Christian and 
Christian, but has its source in influences originating in 
the Godhead, and thence emanating and spreading, so 
as to yield a ray to each Christian, and thus to unite the 
whole church into one on earth, by its being one in hea- 
ven. Here is a gift named " glory, 1 ' which the Son receiv- 
ed from the Father, and that He confers on believers, 
that they may be one, even as the Father and the Son 
are one, the Son in them, and the Father in the Son. 
that they also may be made perfect in one : in which 
words does not our Saviour represent the economy of the 
church, as consisting, as it were, in three estates, the 
Father, the Mediator, the society of believers, the tie by 
which this economy subsists, and by which unity is im- 
parted to it, being an emanation of spiritual influence and 
privilege here termed £< glory," descending from the Father 
to the Son, and from Him to believers ! And are we not 
called upon by this scripture, to affirm that Christians 
are made perfect in one, where they are united to God, 
through the Mediator ? And are we not, therefore, led 
hence to conclude, that, however strong the resemblances 
between them in ritual and polity, and all externals, still 
such agreement could never form the true tie of Christian 
union ; nor could any differences, in these particulars, 
however considerable, break the tie between Christian 



258 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



and Christian, or destroy their Christian unity, unless 
these differences destroyed the Christianity of those who 
differed ? In spite of any unhappy variations which may 
divide them for a time, and wrong them, still all who 
are regenerated are Christian brethren, and cannot cease 
to be so. It is birth that makes Christian brotherhood, 
and it is an indestructible tie. 

The view now insisted on is also (unconsciously, as it 
were) embodied by our evangelist, in one of his epistles, 
where he says, " That which we have seen and heard de- 
clare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with 
us, and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with 
his Son Jesus Christ." * From these words we learn that 
the spring of Christian fellowship is divine influence, and 
that the way to cherish it is, not to compare notes among 
ourselves, as to where we differ, and where we agree, 
but to cherish divine contemplation. And, in point of 
fact, union among men, when arising from mere resem- 
blances, whether merely external or more purely intel- 
lectual, is, after all, mere mutual flattery, or rather self- 
flattery reflected. If mutual resemblance be all the basis 
of union between Christian and Christian, that union 
wants the element of Christian life, and in vain are the 
fruits of righteousness and the charities of the gospel to 
be expected from it. It may look well while the sun 
shines, and all goes harmoniously among those who are 
thus agreed. But only let them cross each other, you find 
it was but party spirit that animated them, and be pre- 
pared for a storm of malignant emotion reciprocating be- 
tween them. 

Were we to seek in the context for the external and 
practical conditions that are necessary to the existence 
of this Christian unity, which engaged so much of our 
Saviour's mind in the solemn moments, when He uttered 
* 1 John i. 3. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



259 



the prayer recorded in St John's Gospel, we should be led 
to infer that they stood, not in any thing like a mere 
uniformity or agreement among believers, in all exter- 
nals, but in these spiritual and vital considerations, first, 
the keeping of Christians through, or in the name of the 
Holy Father ; and, secondly ; their " sanctification," or 
more explicitly, " the keeping of them from the evil that 
is in the world." And were we to seek for the religious 
knowledge implied in their being thus kept, we should 
find it in these words declared by our Lord to be the es- 
sentials to eternal life, " the knowledge of the true God. 
and of Jesus Christ, whom He hath sent.'"' 6i Holy Father 
(says He), keep through Thine own name those whom 
Thou hast given Me, that they may be one, as We are 
one." " I pray not that Thou wouldest take them out 
of the world, but that Thou wouldest keep them from the 
evil. Sanctify them by Thy truth : Thy word is truth.'" 
Nor is it wonderful that these points should have been 
singled out for peculiar emphasis at this solemn moment 
by the prophetic Spirit of our Lord ; for, while the faith- 
ful few have been kept in the name of the Holy Father, 
and sanctified or " separated from the evil of the world," 
and have testified all along that this is eternal life to 
know the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He hath 
sent, history teaches, that the first great lapse of the 
rulers of the church consisted in this, that they just re- 
versed this very petition of our Saviour. Instead of 
sanctifying the church, or keeping it separate from the 
evil things of the world, they tried to sanctify these evil 
things for the use of the church, as if a ceremony of exor- 
cising or purgation, or a change of name, could consecrate 
an object of idol worship, and render it fit for the Chris- 
tian service. Yet so it was, even in the early centuries 
of the Christian era, and so it unhappily still is over a 
large portion of Christendom ; for reformation, difficult in 



260 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



all things, is most especially difficult in the church, which 
not only engages, in favour of things as they have been 
and are, all the sweet and sacred reminiscences of the 
young heart's devotion, but all those sentiments of our 
nature which relate most to eternity, and which are con- 
sequently most opposed to mutation and change. But 
while our Saviour's words imply and enjoin in the church 
a sanctification and separation from the evil that is in the 
world, they prescribe no limits to the union and commu- 
nion of those " who are his sheep and hear his voice,"* 
who are all agreed in seeking to be sanctified through the 
word of God, all endeavouring to obtain eternal life 
through the knowledge of the true God, and of Jesus 
Christ whom He had sent. 

To the passage in our Saviour's prayer on the unity of 
the church now considered, may be added another, oc- 
curring a few verses before in the narrative of the same 
evangelist, and expressed in these terms : " Other sheep 
have I (says our Lord) which are not of this fold : them 
also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice ; and 
there shall be one fold, and one shepherd." In these 
words, as is agreed by all, our Saviour intimates the 
calling and reception of the Gentiles to be his people 
along with the Jews, and the union of the whole into one 
fold. Now here, with regard to the principle of unity, it 
is to be remarked, that it is still the same as in the pas- 
sages which have been already considered. This passage 
is indeed quite parallel to the other in all its details. In the 
former case, the principle of unity was shewn to lie in the 
relation of believers to Christ ; and in this, in like man- 
ner, the oneness of the fold lies in their being under one 
shepherd. In the former case, Christian unity was to be 
maintained by " God keeping believers." In this it is to 
be established by " God bringing in believers." In the 

* J ohn x. 27. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



261 



former case, the spiritual well-being of all depended on 
their " having the knowledge of the true God, and of 
Jesus Christ whom He had sent." In this it depends 
on " their hearing the voice of the Son of God," a voice 
which had that knowledge for its constant guide, and 
God himself for its constant theme. These two pas- 
sages from the Gospel, therefore, are perfectly parallel to 
one another, and both have the same tendency as those 
which have been adduced from the prophets. All unite 
in resting Christian unity, not in any such mutable con- 
siderations as outward agreement, whether uniformity or 
concord as to ritual, polity, or the like, but in the vital 
and essential fact of union to God through Christ, and 
thus through the Godhead to one another. 

It may here be remarked, however, that though the 
true principle of unity thus appears to be wholly spiritual, 
and consequently invisible in its very nature, yet it is 
calculated to produce, and does in point of fact always 
produce, many points of outward agreement among all 
Christians. Thus all " being regenerated by the same 
uncorruptible seed, 11 * bring forth the fruits of righteous- 
ness " some thirty, some sixty, and some a hundred fold."t 
The grace of God which bringeth salvation, hath taught 
them all, that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, 
they " should live soberly, righteously, and piously in this 
present world, looking for that blessed hope and the glo- 
rious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus 
Christ, who gave himself for them that he might redeem 
them from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a pecu- 
liar people zealous of good works." i Nor are they taught 
to agree in acting only, but also in believing. And, in- 
deed, it is delightful to contemplate how nearly unani- 
mous all true Christians are about all the essentials of 
the Christian faith. But this does not fall to be illus- 
* 1 Peter i. 23. t Matt. xiii. 8. J Titus ii. 11. 



262 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



trated here. What we are here bent on shewing is, that 
however numerous the features of outward language or 
behaviour in which all Christians do agree, it is not these 
outward circumstances which constitute the true tie — 
the true bond of their unity. It is something that has 
more life in it than either words or deeds, something 
that admits of special adaptation to the wants of every 
soul more than either. The words which Christ speaks 
to the soul that is united to him, are not mere phrases of 
human language, " but they are spirit and they are life." * 
And though the sameness of the sap that circulates through 
all the vine causes a general resemblance in the foliage 
and fruit of all the branches, yet it is the sap not the si- 
milarity that constitutes and maintains the unity. And 
when this sap ceases to influence and animate any mem- 
ber of the visible church, he ceases, from that very fact, 
to belong to the true unity of the Church, though he may 
still remain in external connexion with it. 

Upon the whole, then, we learn from the divine aspira- 
tions of our blessed Saviour in this His prayer which we 
have been considering, that all Christians are intimately 
one with their Saviour, and through Him one with one 
another. Into however many individual congregations 
or churches those who hold the evangelical faith and fol- 
low after a holy life may be parted, they cannot cease to 
be truly one till they cease to be Christians. The chasms 
which time, place, or feeling may open up between them, 
however vast they may seem to be, cannot break the tie 
which unites them into one ; for that tie does not lie be- 
tween Christian and Christian ; nor does it admit of being 
broken by their adverse pulling. It lies between every 
individual believer and the Redeemer, and in Him, and 
in Him alone, do Christians all really meet in one. Hence 
the jarrings and antagonisms which reciprocate between 

* John vi. 63. 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



263 



Christian and Christian, cannot hurt the true unity of the 
Church, except in so far as they weaken and darken 
those rays of life which, flowing from the Son of God, 
animate and lighten the soul, and through which all are 
united to Him, and through Him to one another. It is * 
only in so far as they hurt the Christianity of those who 
engage in them, that they hurt the unity of the Church, 
But this they do more than could be told. For if the 
essential condition of Christianity be the possession of the 
spirit of Christ, if those who have not the spirit of Christ 
be none of His,* there is but little room among his dis- 
ciples for the contentious, to whom, instead of salvation, 
the apostle Paul assures us, that God will recompense 
tribulation and wrath.-|- 

But, even when matters do not go so far as the destruc- 
tion of the Christianity of those who engage in religious 
dispute with one another, such dispute, though it cannot 
destroy the real, destroys the visible unity among Chris- 
tians. And hence a great evil. For mutual love, in that 
case, being manifestly wanting, the church is self-con- 
demned in the eyes of the world. Infidelity is armed with 
weapons of fearful moral energy. In that case, infide- 
lity can rail, not without reason and Scripture too on its 
side, against every pretension to a holy zeal on the part 
of those, whose most forward features are a schismatic 
antipathy to all but their own party. Oh, how it must 
grieve the spirit of the God of love when He looks down 
upon His church and sees it lacerated, as it is now, by 
party zeal ! Again, and again in this single prayer we 
have been considering, does our blessed Saviour raise His 
hands (in a few hours to be stretched on the cross) pray- 
ing for the unity of His disciples, assigning as the reason 
of His holy importunity, that when they were seen to be 
thus united, the world would know and acknowledge that 
their Master was the Son of the God of love. And is it 
* Rom. viii. 9. t Rom. ii. 8. 



264 



THE EVANGELISTS. 



thus that we requite His solicitude ! Is it thus that we 
answer to His prayer ! Oh ! is it the mind of Christ that 
we are embracing, or a holy life that we are seeking, when 
we are wrangling about every tittle ? Whence have we 
_ gathered, that our calling as Christians is to be zealous 
each more than another in plaiting sectarian crowns of 
thorns to thrust upon the bleeding brows of our Redeemer? 
If it be the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ that we are 
contending for, and striving to be fruitful in, that is good. 
To know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he 
hath sent, is eternal life. But how do we become fruitful 
in such knowledge ? If we are to believe inspiration, it is 
by " adding to our faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, 
and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance patience, 
and to patience godliness, and to godliness brotherly 
kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity." He that 
lacketh these things we are assured is blind. Ah ! how 
many among us are blind. Would that this long night 
of strife were spent ! Would that the day were at hand 
when every Christian will put on the armour of light, — 
" Godliness, brotherly kindness, charity!" 

If that day do not come speedily, it looks all as if a 
dark dark night would soon be over the evangelical 
churches of Britain. It looks as if God were preparing a 
judgment to shew, in a way that cannot be misunderstood, 
that love really is, as our Saviour positively declared it 
to be, the peculiar characteristic of Christianity, and that 
this grace, though many shortcomings therewith, is bet- 
ter than more truth with strife. As is always the case 
with a party who are denied privileges, which they can- 
not be persuaded that they have no right to enjoy, the 
members of the Church of Rome, in this kingdom, have 
been long, and still are, animated (in painful contrast 
with those of the churches of the Reformation), by such a 
spirit of fraternal regard, that they form a strongly uni- 
ted communion. And does it not look as if, in reward.. 



THE APOSTLES. 



265 



they had now a mission to chastise, to purge the Lord's 
vineyard, which, though it has now for nearly three hun- 
dred years been growing in a bright light of truth to 
which Romanists are strangers, is yet bringing forth to 
such a fearful extent wild grapes only ? But let the reader 
think rather than the writer speak on such a subject. 
The present only is ours. " It is not for us to know the 
times or the seasons which the Father hath put in his 
own power."* But we have duties. Let us not forget 
them, nor Him who calls us to them. 

THE APOSTLES. 

iThe apostles, guided by that Spirit which " taught 
them all things," were too enlightened not to know that 
party spirit and sectarian zeal, which had ever shewn 
themselves leading principles in human nature under 
every form of religion, would soon manifest themselves 
in the Church of Christ, as well as every where else. In 
almost every one of the apostolic epistles, therefore, 
there are to be found passages emphatically enjoining 
unity in that church to which the epistle is addressed, 
and cautioning the Christian converts against schism, 
In almost every apostolic epistle, therefore, there is some 
passage or other relating to the inquiry which now en- 
gages us. And this part of our investigation naturally 
leads us to a variety of details. 

There is one respect, however, in which all these pas- 
sages are at one ; and it is important for us to remark, 
in the first place, this feature of universal agreement 
amongst them ; and therefore let us do so now. Thev 
are all at one, then, in this, that they have all for object 
to shew, not the limits of Christian communion, like the 
articles of the creeds of too many subsequent churches, 
* Acts j. 7. 

z 

6 



266 



THE APOSTLES. 



but, on the contrary, its comprehensiveness. Altogether 
unlike any thing that had ever been heard of in Judea 
before, they teach distinctly, that neither difference of 
nation, nor difference of opinion in non-essentials, nor 
any such circumstance, should be any hinderance to 
Christian unity, provided all were agreed to follow a 
pious and virtuous life, and to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. That was the rock on which the Redeemer him- 
self said that He would build His church, so that the 
gates of hell should never prevail against it, and the 
apostles never narrowed the basis which their blessed 
Master laid. On the contrary, in exact keeping with 
the original institution of the Christian church, they ex- 
tend the apostolic benediction " to all in every place who 
call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord,"* — w to 
all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." t In 
harmony with which, St Paul, giving directions to Ti- 
mothy respecting his conduct as a minister of Christ, or 
bishop, charges him " to follow righteousness, faith, cha- 
rity, peace, with all them that call upon the Lord out of 
a pure heart." % In fact, these divinely inspired men 
placed the true principle of Christian unity in a true spi- 
ritual relationship to Christ; and therefore, when ad-^ 
dressing Christians, they entreated them to tolerate each 
other's conscientious differences, and, since God had re- 
ceived them, to receive one another. § They charged 
them, instead of dwelling on their differences, to look to 
the points wherein they were agreed, " to mind the same 
thing, to walk by the same rule," assuring them 5 that 
if they did so, those who were variously minded would 
soon be brought to be at one. |] A beautiful principle 
this ! — to arrive at truth through the medium of love ! 
Let us but make the experiment. It is not from this 

* 1 Cor. i. 2. f Eph. vi. 24. % 2 Tim. ii. 23 

§ Horn, xiv. xv, || Phil. iii. 16. 



THE APOSTLES. 



267 



passage of Scripture only that we learn it. It is embraced 
by that still more comprehensive principle of discovery 
which our Saviour announced, when he said, " If any 
man will do the will of God, he shall know of the doctrine 
whether it be of God or whether I speak of myself." * 

We do, indeed, find the apostle Paul enjoining excom- 
munication, and exercising it also, in the church of the 
Corinthians. But against whom ? Against some un- 
happy believer who could not bring his mind to feel 
exactly in every point as others did? By no means. It 
was against an individual who had been guilty of a great 
and unnatural crime. And as it was in the primitive 
church, so ought it to be now. Doubtless, excommuni- 
cation ought to be exercised where there is a just call 
for it. And for the Church's guidance, besides piety 
and a sound mind which can teach such occasions by the 
analogy of Scripture and of the covenant of grace, with- 
out particular precepts, the apostolic writings are very 
instructive on the subject. Thus, while the apostle Paul 
says, often in words and in spirit always, " Grace be 
with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in since- 
rity," he says also, "If any man love not the Lord Jesus 
Christ, let him be anathema maranatha," t which were 
the words wherewith the Jews commenced their greatest 
excommunication, and not only cut off the offender from 
their society, but devoted him to eternal perdition. And 
lest it should be thought that these words, as here used 
by the apostle, mean no more than that those who love 
not the Lord Jesus Christ will come to this state if thev 
continue in their hatred, we may quote another passage 
from his epistle to the Galatians, where he says, " Though 
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel 
unto you than that which we have preached unto you, 
let him be accursed." J Again, the apostle John having 
laid down a certain doctrine, says, If there come any 
* Jolm vii. 17. t Cor. xvi. 22, J Gal. i. 8. 



268 



THE APOSTLES. 



unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not 
unto your house, neither wish him God speed, for he 
that wisheth him God speed is a partaker of his evil 
deeds.* But the variation from his own preaching, which 
the apostle Paul anathematizes in his epistle to the Ga- 
latians just referred to, far from resembling those about 
which alone evangelical Christians differ, was " another 
gospel," or rather it was no gospel at all, for it was the 
denial of the merits of Christ for justification, and a re- 
currence to the law and to circumcision, — in a word, it 
was just the old system. And as to the persons whom 
St John recommends to the elect lady and her children, 
to have no familiar communion with, they were those who 
denied that Christ was come in the flesh. They were 
antichrists. And so in every case where excommunica- 
tion is enjoined, enforced, or meditated. It was to be 
directed either against immorality only or the self-con- 
demned heretic ! f And was it to be summarily and hastily 
inflicted ? " Take heed (says our Saviour), that ye de- 
spise not one of these little ones : for I say unto you, 
That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of 
my Father which is in heaven. For the Son of man is 
come to save that which was lost. How think ye ? If a 
man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone 
astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth 
into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone 
astray ? And if so be that he find it, verily I say unto 
you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of the ninety 
and nine which went not astray. Even so it is not the 
will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these 
little ones should perish. Moreover, if thy brother shall 
trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between 
thee and him alone : if he shall hear thee, thou hast 
gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then 
take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of 
* 2 John 10, tTitusiii.il, 



THE APOSTLES. 



269 



two or three witnesses every word may be established. 
And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the 
church : but if he neglect to hear the church, let him 
be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican." 

We search in vain in the New Testament for a war- 
rant for any of those measures of force to prevent varia- 
tion in matters of indifference, and to enforce unifor- 
mity, which have been resorted to in after ages, espe- 
cially by the Church of Rome. What the inspired 
writers enjoin, in order to Christian unity, is the sup- 
pression of the irascible passions, and the cultivation of 
mutual esteem and forbearance in their stead. And, in- 
deed, what else was to be expected from their divinely 
enlightened minds, if divine enlightenment be in harmony 
with reason and justice ? For if it be the privilege, and, 
indeed, the duty, of every Christian, " to be fully per- 
suaded in his own mind," — if it be a principle in Chris- 
tian ethics, that whatever is not of faith is sin, how ab- 
surd to think of using force, where the very thing to be 
done is to persuade ! It was quite otherwise with the 
apostles. The nature of the case was always in their 
eye. And as they have never been equalled since, by a 
true zeal for the interests of the Church of Christ, so 
have they never been equalled in a true toleration. How 
different, their affectionate and soul-winning proceedings 
with their converts, from the inquisitions, tortures, exe- 
cutions, anathemas, and all the hateful and inhuman in- 
ventions of an after age ! How different are the self- 
sacrificing apostles themselves breathing in all their 
epistles the most tender entreaties, from the lordly priest- 
hood of an after age, strangely robing its spirit of tyranny 
in the language of the meek and lowly Jesus, and odi- 
ously trying thus to consecrate its native inhumani- 
ty ! Thus the apostle Paul, writing to the Colossians, 
after having besought them to put off anger, malice. 



270 



THE APOSTLES. 



evil-speaking, and the other outgoings of unregenerate 
nature, after having shewn the all-embracing character 
of the Christian dispensation to which Gentiles had equal 
right, and under which they enjoyed equal privileges 
with Jews, proceeds in these terms : — Pat on, there- 
fore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of 
mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, long- 
suffering, forbearing one another, and forgiving one an- 
other, if any man have a complaint against any ; even 
as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. And above all these 
things, put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness, 
and let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which 
also ye are called in one body." * And similarly writing 
to the Ephesians, he says, — " I therefore, the prisoner 
of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the 
vocation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and 
meekness, with long-suffering forbearing one another in 
love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the 
bond of peace." f And similarly to the Philippians, — 

Only let your conduct be as becometh the gospel of 
Christ, that whether I come and see you, or else be ab- 
sent, I may hear of your affairs, that ye stand fast in 
one Spirit, with one soul striving together for the faith 
of the gospel." J And similarly in many other passages 
in the epistles. 

It is farther to be observed also, that while the apos- 
tolic Scriptures are thus rich in passages setting forth 
the supremacy of the principle of evangelical love as the 
means and the outward bond of Christian unity, the in- 
spired writers are also at much pains to shew how com- 
prehensive the Christian faith is. Thus, there was no- 
thing in the wide world so repulsively incredible to a 
Jew, as that a Gentile could be received and recognised 
as his equal in religion. Strong as may have been since, 
• Coloss. iii. 12. t Eph, iv. 1. $ Philip, i. 27. 



THE APOSTLES. 



271 



or may still be, the antipathy between the exclusive 
high-churchman and the impracticable dissenter, it is 
nothing to that which existed between a Jew and a 
Gentile, as has been already shewn. But in opposition 
to this reigning exclusiveness in his own nature and his 
own innate and educational conviction now wholly sub- 
dued by grace, St Paul assures his countrymen again 
and again, that all are equally the children of God by 
faith in Jesus Christ, that as many as have been bap- 
tized into Christ have put on Christ, where there is nei- 
ther Jew nor Gentile, bond nor free, male nor female, 
but all are one in Christ Jesus, all Abraham's seed, and 
heirs according to the promise." * Here all visible dif- 
ferences, even those which were regarded as the most 
insurmountable and unavoidably isolating, are repre- 
sented as done away and forgotten in the fulness of 
Christ, and in the all-embracing extent of Christian 
unity, of which faith in Christ is stated as the visible 
manifestation, and Christian baptism as the visible sign 
and warrant for commencement. 

Those points, in which Christians must be one, the 
same apostle more pointedly enumerates in his epistle to 
the Ephesians.-f- There, after a passage, perfectly similar 
to that which has just been quoted, and a prayer that the 
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would grant 
them to be strengthened with might by His spirit in the 
inner man, that Christ may dwell in their hearts by faith, 
that they being rooted and grounded in love, may be able 
to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and 
length and depth and height, and to know the love of 
Christ, which passeth knowledge, that they might be 
filled with all the fulness of God ; and after an entreaty 
(already alluded to) that those whom he addressed would 
walk worthy of the vocation wherewith they were called, 
• Gal. iii. 26, and Eph, ii. 13, t Eph, iii. 



272 



THE APOSTLES. 



with all loveliness and meekness, with long-suffering, for- 
bearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the 
unity of the spirit in the bond of peace, he adds, " There 
is one body, and one spirit, even as ye are called in one 
hope of your calling ; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 
one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through 
all, and in you all."* Such are his words, which he plainly 
gives as encouragements to unity, not as limits to it. But 
immediately after, as if feeling that there might arise in 
the mind of the reader, perusing this description of the 
unities of the gospel, the idea of an absolute unity among 
believers, exclusive of all variety in feeling and opinion, 
he reminds the reader that along with these things which 
are unities in themselves, there coexists variety in be- 
lievers. " But unto every one of us (adds he) is given 
grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ." 
And as if to preclude the idea that the one faith he refers 
to were some voluminous set of articles similar to those 
to which the introduction of error gave rise in after ages, 
he immediately intimates that the faith when held by the 
most perfected saints is " the unity of the faith and of the 
knowledge of the Son of God." And what can the unity 
of the faith mean in reference to language, but the faith 
of Christ brought as much as possible to an unity as St 
Peter did when he laid the basis on which the church is 
built, and said, 61 Thou art the Christ the Son of the 
living God," and said no more ? If, indeed, it be granted 
that there is an unity of the faith at all, in other words, 
that there have never been two or more faiths in the 
church, but one faith all along, it is plain that that faith, 
though it must embrace within it all Christian truth, 
must, nevertheless, be capable of being expressed in a 
very simple formula in language. For while it is certain 
that all the Old Testament worthies " did eat the same 
* Eph. iv. 4, 



THE APOSTLES. 



273 



spiritual meat, and drink the same spiritual drink"* with 
ourselves, it is equally certain that to reduce our faith to 
an unity with theirs, so that there might be " one faith" 
in the church all along, we should require to choose a 
confession expressing the very essence of true religion 
and Christian doctrine only, and containing, understood 
indeed (and wrapt up in it as leaves, flowers, and fruit 
are in the bud), but not expressed in detail any one of 
these points about which evangelical Christians are di- 
vided. We are ever too apt to rest contented with mere 
words, and to dwell exclusively on certain forms of speech. 
But the words of Christ are spirit and life. Truth ad- 
mits of many forms in language, but in all, it is the spirit 
only that quickeneth, mere language apart from grace 
profiteth little. 

In the latter part of the passage, which has led to these 
remarks, the apostle compares the Christian community 
to a body, and he concludes by recurring to his grand 
idea — which is indeed the characteristic principle of evan- 
gelical morality — namely, that the use of the whole eco- 
nomy is, that the church may make increase unto the 
building of itself up in love. And in touching here on 
the analogy between the church and a body, the apostle 
recurs to a favourite idea which he has expanded at great 
length in his first epistle to the Corinthians ;•(• and this idea 
is so pertinent to the inquiry which now engages us, that 
it must not be too hurriedly passed over. " There are 
diversities of gifts (says the apostle), but the same spirit. 
And there are diversities of administrations, but the same 
Lord. And there are diversities of operations, but it is 
the same God that worketh all in all. But the manifes- 
tation of the spirit is given to every man to profit withal." 
Such is his theme ; and he then proceeds to illustrate it 
by stating the details wherein the diversity of gifts and 
* 1 Cor. x. 3. t 1 Cor. xii. 4. 



274 



THE APOSTLES. 



manifestation consisted, and then by shewing that the 
church of Christ, which is his body, is thereby made to 
resemble a true and living body, composed of an united 
system of varied members, each serving its own office, 
and co-operating with all the others to the general health 
and beauty of the whole. Now this very tine and striking 
passage of holy writ is very instructive on the subject of 
Christian unity. And, in the first place, it is obvious at 
first sight that it gives no countenance to the notion that 
an absolute uniformity is necessary. The leading idoa 
which the apostle presents to us again and again, and 
under a variety of forms, is the unity of the spirit of God 
in the multiplicity of His gifts and operations. In the 
Corinthian church there were many glorious manifesta- 
tions of the power of God. One member was honoured 
with important revelations of the future, another with 
the power of healing diseases, or of casting out devils, 
another had the gift of speaking languages which he had 
never learned — another of interpreting them and of ren- 
dering them intelligible to an assembly of the faithful. 
Such was the diversity of gifts possessed by different in- 
dividuals. But it was quite rarely that any one individual 
possessed more than one of these powers at the same 
time.* 

Now here is a state of things immediately instituted 
by God himself, and which may plainly be taken as a 
direct manifestation of His will. And although these 
miraculous outpourings of the Spirit have passed away 
with the occasion which demanded them, yet His more 
ordinary outpourings, always necessary for converting 
sinners, and for building up saints, have continued, and 
in their distribution, as has been already shewn, we find 

* See an admirable discourse on this passage of Scripture by M. 
Grandpierre, a very eloquent and enlightened Protestant pastor in 
Paris, in his second volume of Discours Evangeliques, p. 50. 



THE APOSTLES. 



275 



an exact analogy to that here described in the church of 
Corinth. But without asking the assistance of this fact, 
and taking the description of the apostle as a true picture 
of the will of God, in reference to a single church (as for 
instance that of Corinth), on what principle of reason could 
we infer it to be the will of God, that the whole church 
should not admit of a similar variety of manifestations in 
the unity of the spirit, as it enlarged its borders and its 
materials, and varied more in the circumstances and spiri- 
tual wants of the worshippers ? If it appear that a certain 
state of things at the very fountain-head, where God is 
directly manifesting His own will, is in reality a variety 
of form in an unity of spirit, why not expect the same state 
of things over all the region where the fountain flows ? 
On what sound principle can we conclude that unity of 
spirit, in variety of forms elsewhere, is contrary to the will 
of God ? Such a conclusion, from such premises, is the 
very reverse of sound reason. But to what state of things 
would the variety of gifts thus instituted directly by God 
himself necessarily lead, even though the church extended 
no farther than to the population of Corinth ? Should we 
not soon have a number of congregations, each gathered 
round some peculiarly gifted pastor ? And whether we 
conceive these several congregations as forming them- 
selves spontaneously, each worshipper going where he 
found his soul best fed, and his spiritual wants best sup- 
plied, or each recommended to worship in the parish 
where he resided, is it not certain that, equally in both 
cases, sooner or later, each congregation would acquire a 
peculiar character of its own, impressed upon it by the pe- 
culiar gifts of its pastor ? And thus would there not soon 
arise a variety of churches in the city, analogous to that 
which we find in any large town in the present day ? 
But still more if the church extended its bounds beyond 
the walls of Corinth, and if, by these peculiarly gifted 



276 



THE APOSTLES. 



persons, one went to preach the gospel to one city at a 
distance, another to another, each differing from the 
others in its degree of civilization, its form of govern- 
ment, or in general terms, the state of humanity or of 
society, is it not obvious, that though the unity of the 
faith, and the essentials of evangelical worship, would 
be preserved every where, so long as miraculous spiritual 
endowment subsisted, still, great variety of form and feel- 
ing would unavoidably make its appearance ; in a word, 
a state of things would arise highly analogous to what 
we find at present in evangelical churches, in different 
regions of the world ; and all springing out of the primary 
variety of spiritual gifts, which God himself, who seeth 
the end from the beginning, had instituted in the primi- 
tive church ? And is it not most desirable that a uni- 
versal religion, a religion designed to embrace all man- 
kind, from the savage of New Holland to the citizen of 
Paris, from the learned philosopher to the unlettered 
peasant, should possess this power of universal appliance, 
and admit of this variety of forms and manifestations, 
while yet the unity of the spirit, and the unity of the 
faith, remain entire ? This last consideration, however, 
belongs to another part of this treatise, and we need not 
enlarge on it now. 

Let us rather haste to remark, that while Christianity 
thus admits, so beautifully, of this variety of form and 
manifestation, provided always that the unity of the spirit 
be preserved in the bonds of peace, nothing is more in- 
consistent with the whole economy of the gospel, than a 
variety, where all is difference, and the bond of unity, 
the unity of the spirit, has been destroyed. Such a state 
of things constitutes schism and sect, than Avhich nothing 
is more contrary to the spirit of love, and the design of 
the gospel, nothing more truly a fruit of the fall. It 
shewed itself first in the case of Cain, who, under the in- 



THE APOSTLES. 



277 



fluence of a murderous jealousy, which took its rise in a 
difference of religious observance and award, slew his 
brother Abel. And the whole history of our species, from 
the day of Abel downwards, demonstrates the melan- 
choly fact, that both, under true and false and all forms 
of religion, Satan is ever ready to take up the emo- 
tions which it awakes, and to ally them with the angry 
passions. Even under the Christian economy, notwith- 
standing its benignant spirit, human nature has still shewn 
the same perversity. Nay, even in the apostolic churches, 
and in the midst of the Spirit's effusion of miraculous 
gifts upon their members, strifes and divisions made their 
appearance, and party spirit and pride began to introduce 
odious and unchristian distinctions. Of the latter, we 
find some notices in the Epistles of St James, and of the 
former, too much evidence in the Epistles to the Corin-^ 
thians. 

In the Church of Corinth, chiefly, it would appear, 
through the malignant influence of some preacher who 
came down from Jerusalem to oppose the ministry of 
Paul, party spirit and personalism were carried to such 
a height, that when the Christian converts assembled to 
celebrate the Lord's Supper, instead of communicating 
harmoniously, as being one in Christ Jesus, they sat down 
in parties, separated from each other, and felt towards 
each other most uncharitably, and thus fearfully desecrated 
that holy ordinance.* Their contentions form the first 
subject which the apostle Paul takes up in his epistle : 
and it is very illustrative of our present purpose to ob- 
serve how he handles it. But let us quote his words. 
After liis usual opening, and some words of encourage- 
ment, he immediately, in these words, enters on the subject 
referred to : — " Now, I beseech you, brethren, by the 
name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the 

* 1 Cor. xi. 18. 



278 



THE APOSTLES. 



same thing, and that there be no divisions among you ; 
but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind, 
and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared 
unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the 
house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. 
Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, 
and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ, Is 
Christ divided ? was Paul crucified for you ? or were ye 
baptized in the name of Paul?" And thus he proceeds, 
until he concludes in these words, " Him that glorieth, 
let him glory in the Lord." From these words, then, we 
learn that there existed, among the members of the Co- 
rinthian Church, contentions* Now, these the apostle, 
in another passage of this epistle, represents as so incom- 
patible with spiritual Christianity, that he says, e< Are 
p ye not carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, 
and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as 
men ? For while one saith, I am of Paul ; and another, 
I am of Apollos, are ye not carnal?"* And in another 
epistle, he ranks contentions among the works of the 
flesh (for the word here translated contentions, is the same 
that in the passage in the Epistle to the Galatiansf re- 
ferred to, is rendered strifes) ; and in another epistle, he 
ranks them foremost among the crimes for which " indig- 
nation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, are coming."^ 
No wonder, then, that these strifes should receive his 
earliest attention in his epistle. And here let us mark 
how he proceeds in order to put a stop to them. Does 
he proceed (as has been so often done by those who have 
uselessly laboured in attempting to put down schism in 
after- ages), by giving a critical discourse, full of pretend- 
ing demonstrations, dealing out praises to one party, and 
inflicting contempt and anathemas to another ; and thus 
having pointed out in detail who was in the right and 
* 1 Cor.iii. 3. t Gal; v, 21. % Rom. ii. 8. 



THE APOSTLES. 



279 



who was in the wrong, does he bind over the one party 
to join the other at their peril, or else to depart, and 
be rejected and condemned ? St Paul, under the infal- 
lible guidance of the Spirit, could have done this without 
that hazard of error, from which none has been exempt 
since the apostolic age. But, on the contrary, we find 
nothing like this in the procedure of the divinely guided 
apostle. Although those who said they were of Christ 
were surely very deserving of commendation, compared 
with those who said they were of Paul, or of Apollos, or 
of Peter, yet to prevent an occasion of that envy and 
jealousy which such discriminations must inevitably be- 
get, the apostle refrains from all such procedure as the 
pointing out of this ; and, directing his exclusive atten- 
tion to the fact, that where there are strifes among all. 
there are sins among all, he directs his reproof equally to 
all, and equally entreats, nay, may we not say conjures 
all to cease from their altercations, and to speak the same 
things, to agree about the same measures. He appeals 
directly to their calling as Christians. He charges them 
to make unity a matter of duty. Far from leading them 
to suppose, as all men naturally tend to do, that discus- 
sion would settle the point and restore harmony, he 
assures them " that knowledge puffeth up ; that it is 
charity which buildeth up."* And further, as to the 
attainment of knowledge, he shews that, instead of seeking 
it by schismatic argument, in which the love of truth soon 
comes to be accounted nothing and the love of triumph 
every thing, they ought rather to seek it by the nurture 
of piety. " For if any man love God (says he), the 
same is made to know of him."-|- And, finally, on this 
subject, he takes occasion to assure them, that after all 5 
if any man thinketh that he knoweth any thing he 
knoweth nothing, yet, as he ought to know, " that whe- 
* 2 Cor. viii, 1. f 1 Cor. viii. 1, 3. 



280 



THE APOSTLES. 



ther there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether know- 
ledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and 
we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is 
come, then that which is in part shall be done away." — 
" That now we see through a glass darkly ; but then face 
to face : now we know in part ; but then we shall know, 
even as also We are known."* In a word, it is to the 
love of God in Christ, it is to piety and the principle of 
love, that the apostle directs the Corinthians, in order to 
the re-establishment of unity amongst them, — not to spe- 
culative inquiry and theological philosophizing. " Now I 
beseech you brethren (says he), by the name of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that 
there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly 
joined together in the same mind, in the same judg- 
ment."! In other words, he beseeches them, that, what- 
ever variations may for a time unavoidably exist in their 
thoughts, they should keep these variations to themselves ; 
and as to what they say, speak the same thing ; and that, 
when they come to a decision or judgment in any mat- 
ter, they should be unanimous. His words are thus ren- 
dered in the paraphrase of Macknight: "Now, brethren, 
since ye are called unto the fellowship of Christ, I be- 
seech you, by every consideration implied in the name of 
our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all agree in the same mea- 
sures for promoting the interests of that fellowship, that 
there be no divisions among you* but that ye be firmly 
joined, as members of one body, by the same good affec- 
tion towards each other, and by the same practical 
judgment." And, indeed, that this is the true spirit of 
the apostle's entreaty, that it was a social unanimity, an 
unity at heart, not an identity of views in every parti- 
cular, that it was Christian harmony and unanimity 
which the apostle urges so earnestly upon the Corinthians, 
* 1 Cor. xiii. 8. f 1 Cor. h 10. 



THE APOSTLES. 



281 



is obvious for many reasons. In the first place, it would 
not be reasonable, it would be nothing short of absurd, 
to entreat a large society of individuals, differing in natu- 
ral endowments, education, and means of grace, as the Co- 
rinthian converts undoubtedly did, to entertain the very 
same opinions and views in all points relating to religion. 
Whether such uniformity be possible or desirable in any 
case, is another question. It is a state of things, at all 
events, to which entreaty does not apply. In the second 
place, the fault and the crime of the Corinthians, so far 
as we can learn, was not heresy or injurious variations in 
doctrine — not an error of the head. It was an error of 
the heart, even that same personalism which has been the 
great source of schism and the ruin of Christian unity in 
all ages. Says one, I am of Paul — says another, I am of 
Apollos — says another, I am of Peter — says another, I 
am of Christ, which was certainly making comparisons 
very daringly. Peter, when, in a moment of pious oblivi- 
ousness on the Mount of Transfiguration,* he said, 
" Lord, let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, * 
one for Moses, and one for Elias," was rebuked by a 
voice from heaven for naming even these great and glo- 
rified saints along with God's well-beloved son. Of how 
much sorer punishment were these Corinthians guilty I 
The very magnitude of their error shews, that the heart, 
not the head, was the source of it ; for, if they had felt 
but a little, they must have perceived, that, compared 
with Christ, Paul, Apollos, Cephas, were nothing, no 
more at least, as Paul tells them, than ministers by whom 
they believed, through the increase which the Spirit gave 
to their planting and watering. But, in the third place, 
we learn from several passages in Paul's epistles, and 
more especially from his Epistle to the Romans, that he 
was very far from insisting upon an identity of views as 
* Matt. xvii. 2, 

a a 



282 



THE APOSTLES. 



to non-essentials among those who ought to live in Chris- 
tian communion and Christian unity. The passage re- 
ferred to, indeed, breathes so fully the whole of what I 
am endeavouring to express — it shews so beautifully, 
that, even in the midst of very undesirable variations 
in opinion and conviction, there may still be unity of 
spirit sufficient to constitute Christian unity — and it 
points out so beautifully the means by which such unity 
of spirit is to be produced and preserved, that, though it 
be somewhat long, I cannot refrain from introducing it 
here. The apostle had, just a few sentences before, 
given utterance to that most divine of all syllogisms, 
" Love worketh no ill to his neighbour ; therefore, love 
is the fulfilling of the law." Then, after stating, as a 
motive to awake out of sleep, that the night is far spent, 
and the day at hand, and that therefore we ought to 
cast off the works of darkness and put on the armour of 
light, he proceeds with practical directions on the sub- 
ject of Christian communion in these terms :* — " Him 
*that is weak in the faith, receive ye, but not to doubt- 
ful disputations. For one believeth that he may eat all 
things : another, who is weak, eateth herbs. Let not him 
that eateth despise him that eateth not ; and let not him 
which eateth not, judge him that eateth, for God hath 
received him. Who art thou that judgest another man's 
servant ? to his own master he standeth or falleth : yea, 
he shall be holden up ; for God is able to make him stand. 
One man esteemeth one day above another; another 
esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully per- 
suaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, re- 
gardeth it unto the Lord ; and he that regardeth not the 
day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, 
eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks ; and he 
that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth 

* Rom. xiv. 



THE APOSTLES. 



283 



God thanks. For none of us liveth to himself, and no 
man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live imto 
the Lord ; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord : 
whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord's. For 
to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that 
he might be Lord both of the dead and the living. But 
why dost thou judge thy brother ? or why dost thou set 
at nought thy brother ? for we shall all stand before the 
judgment-seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, 
saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every 
tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us 
shall give account of himself to God. Let us not there- 
fore judge one another any more : but judge this rather, 
that no man put a stumbling-block, or an occasion to 
fall, in his brother's way. I know, and am persuaded by 
the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself : 
but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to 
him it is unclean. But if thy brother be grieved with thy 
meat, now walkest thou not charitably. Destroy not him 
with thy meat for whom Christ died. Let not then your 
good be evil spoken of : for the kingdom of God is not 
meat and drink ; but righteousness, and peace, and joy 
in the Holy Ghost. For he that in these things serveth 
Christ is acceptable to God, and approved of men. Let 
us therefore follow after the things which make for peace, 
and things wherewith one may edify another. For meat 
destroy not the work of God. All things indeed are pure ; 
but it is evil for that man who eateth with offence. It is 
good, neither to eat flesh nor to drink wine, nor any thing 
whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made 
weak. Hast thou faith, have it to thyself before God. 
Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing 1 
which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is condemned 
if he eat, because he eateth not of faith : for whatsoever 
is not of faith is sin. We then that are strong, ought to 



284 



THE APOSTLES. 



bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please our- 
selves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his 
good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself ; 
but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that re- 
proached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were 
written aforetime were written for our learning ; that we, 
through patience and comfort of the scriptures, might have 
hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant 
you to be like-minded one toward another, according to 
Christ Jesus ; that ye may with one mind and one mouth 
glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
Wherefore receive ye one another, as Christ also received 
us, to the glory of God." 

Now, from this precious passage of St Paul's writings, 
we learn that, among the Christians at Rome, there were 
two classes of converts, who differed remarkably as to 
their convictions respecting certain externals in reli- 
gion. The one made distinctions between meats and 
days, and probably, through fear of eating meat that was 
offered to idols (for they were dwelling among idolators), 
they restricted themselves to the use of vegetables. This 
is what might be expected from Jewish converts, and it 
is generally believed that such they were. But it is 
enough for us to remark, that the apostle characterizes 
them as " those who were weak in the faith." The other 
class made no such distinctions. They were probably 
the Gentile converts, and such of the Jewish as had 
emancipated themselves from their educational prepos- 
sessions, and were able to walk by the rule of Christian 
liberty. But it is immaterial who they were. What we 
have to remark of the two classes, is, that the former, 
namely, the fastidious in external observances, were 
much given to judging and condemning those who lived 
in the enjoyment of Christian liberty, while the latter 
were given to despising the fastidious. Such was the 



THE APOSTLES. 



285 



position of matters ; and how does the apostle treat it ? 
Does he, in virtue of his apostolic authority, enjoin uni- 
formity in the external observances referred to? Or, 
shewing no toleration for religious prejudices and the 
voice of conscience, does he charge all to obey peremp- 
torily his own positive precepts ? On the contrary, 
knowing the hold which religious prejudice has even of 
those who are pious and safe, recognising the rights of 
conscience in its supreme authority over the individual, 
and acting in harmony with the grand principle, that 
not force, but increasing grace and knowledge only, and 
the new lights they bring with them, can banish preju- 
dice and rectify the judgment, he leaves the differences as 
to external observances, which unhappily existed, to re- 
main where they were for the time ; and he directs all 
his energies to regulate the feelings which these converts 
should bear towards each other. As to the strong, he 
tells them that, instead of despising the weak, they should 
bear their infirmities, and rather restrict themselves to 
their rules of living, than occasion them to suspect the 
holiness of gospel requirements, in consequence of their 
free use of Christian liberty. And as to the weak, he tells 
them that, instead of judging and condemning those who 
saw no occasion for their fastidiousness, and enjoyed their 
Christian liberty, they should leave that to Christ. For 
next to Him in authority, is a man's own conscience ; 
and it is no part of the duty of one Christian to judge 
and condemn another, who can righteously plead his 
conscience as his guide and his authority. 

What a wonderful evidence of the power of the Gos- 
pel, — that Saul of Tarsus should not only recognise, but 
lay down and warmly advocate, such a principle ! How 
different a man is he to-day from what he was when he 
assisted at the martyrdom of Stephen ! How different are 
his breathings now from those threatenings and slaugh- 



286 



THE APOSTLES. 



ters which he used to breathe against those who differed 
from him ! " Let every man (says he) be fully persuaded 
in his own mind. Who art thou that judgest another 
man's servant ? To his own master he standeth or fall- 
eth." Exercise your judgment rather in this, not to put 
a stumbling-block or an occasion to fall in a brother's 
way. Your Christian liberty is good, but let not your 
good be evil spoken of by your uncharitable use of it. 
Do not let your Christian communion and fellowship be 
interfered with by differences about meats and drinks 
and days — matters of mere ritual. For the kingdom of 
God does not consist in such things, but in righteousness 
and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. And these are 
points in which, when any man serveth Christ, not only 
" is he acceptable to God but approved of men ;" for do 
not all who are entitled to the name of men, approve of 
those who are just and peaceable and cheerful ? Let us, 
therefore, follow after the things which make for peace, 
and things wherewith one may build up another. And 
to this end let every one please not himself but his neigh- 
bour for his good, as Christ pleased not himself. In order 
to do so, you have indeed much need for patience and con- 
solation. But you will be able to do all things through 
Christ strengthening you. And may the God of pa- 
tience and consolation grant you to be like-minded with 
Christ towards one another, that ye may with one mind 
and one mouth (unanimously and with concurrent ex- 
pressions) glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Je- 
sus Christ. Wherefore receive one another, as Christ 
also received us, to the glory of God. 

Now this passage from the Epistle to the Romans is 
very illustrative of the passage in the Epistle to the Co- 
rinthians, which gave occasion to the quotation of the 
former here. The language is indeed almost the same. 
In the one, the apostle beseeches the Christian converts 



THE APOSTLES. 



287 



that they all speak the same thing and avoid schisms, 
and that they be perfectly joined together in the same 
mind and in the same judgment. In the other, he prays 
that they may with one mind and one mouth glorify God. 
But from the immediate context in the latter case, we learn 
that this unanimity — this unity of spirit — was, for a time 
at least, to co-exist along with very considerable differ- 
ences in conviction as to external observances. We are 
thus led, therefore, to infer that the former passage refers 
likewise to an unanimity based in mutual affection rather 
than identity of opinion in all matters, and rather to co- 
exist amidst variety of opinions than not to exist at all. 
Indeed this fact appears abundantly plain from the Epistle 
to the Corinthians itself. This church appears to have 
written to the apostle for advice on several questions on 
which they differed ; and one of these was this very same 
question touching meats offered to idols, on which the 
apostle has written so fully to the Romans. On this point 
it appeared that some of the Corinthian converts were so 
weak that they still had conscience of idols, still looked 
upon them as realities, having some share in the govern- 
ment of the world ; while others felt so proudly as to the 
emptiness of idol worship, that they were even disposed 
to join in the sacrifices in the idol temples for the sake 
of the good cheer that was going. Add to this, that 
some of them also denied even the resurrection of the 
dead ; * and it will be immediately granted that when 
the apostle entreats them to be perfectly joined together 
in the same mind, in the same judgment, and to avoid 
schisms, he plainly implies that mutual forbearance and 
love should, for a time at least, form the bond and 
principle of unanimity, not identity of opinion. That 
is to be looked for in every case as the fruit not the 
fountain of Christian unity. Indeed we are not left to 
5 Chap. xv. 



288 



THE APOSTLES. 



infer this. In this epistle, as in all the rest, next to the 
love of Christ, we find brotherly love insisted on as that 
which ought to be above all things. It is to the Co- 
rinthians that Paul says, " if meat make my brother to 
offend, I will eat no flesh while the world standeth." * 
It is to them that he gives that ample discussion al- 
ready noticed, of the unity of the spirit in the variety of 
his gifts, comparing the Church to a body, in which, 
though there be some parts more honourable and some 
less honourable and comely, yet are the whole so ba- 
lanced that there is no schism, but all the members have 
a care of one another. And it is immediately after, in 
order to the unity of the Church, that he lays down the 
supremacy of charity in utterances that never have been 
or will be equalled. 

But it is now time to bring these illustrations to a close ; 
not indeed because the Word of God has been exhausted 
of even a tythe of what it says in favour of unity among 
Christians, even in the midst of variety as to secondary 
differences, but because enough has I think been addu- 
ced to convince any one who is open to conviction, that 
not such differences in secondary points, but a schismatic 
spirit is contrary to evangelical Christianity. But so 
contrary and so killing to all true Christian life and unity 
is this spirit, that though a church may be nominally one, 
yet if a schismatic spirit prevail there, it is in reality di- 
vided and torn ; and though various churches may go un- 
der different denominations, yet if they hold the head 
and love each other as brethren, they are in reality one. 
With regard to excommunication, that fruitful source of 
division which has so often necessitated and even conse- 
crated schism, it is not in the gospel that any warrant is 
to be found for its exercise in reference to such trivial va- 
riations in doctrine or ritual as have in after ages been 
* 1 Cor, xii. 



THE APOSTLES. 



289 



visited even with tortures and death in its cruelest forms. 
Notwithstanding all the errors in doctrine and practice 
which prevailed in the church of Corinth, so well was the 
apostle Paul aware (as has indeed been already stated), 
that it was only by mutual love that they could be edified, 
that he excommunicated none but the one who had 
been guilty of a revolting crime. And when the church, 
acting on his authority, put his sentence in execution 
with that excessive severity, it would seem, which human 
nature has even tended to practise in such cases, he re- 
proves them in his second letter for their want of com- 
passion on him who had fallen. 

Against heresy, indeed, as well as against schism, the 
gospel lifts an emphatic voice. But here it is needful to 
be remarked, that we do not find, in reference to this 
term, any warrant for such an use of it, as later churches 
have made. The Chinch of Rome, for instance, names 
every slight departure from its forced uniformity and 
multitudinous tenets a heresy ! Now this is a perversion 
of the term. The Romish priesthood have, indeed, the 
Jewish Church in the times of the apostles as a prece- 
dent for such an use of it, for the Jews charged Paul 
with heresy, as he himself informs us. " This I confess 
unto thee (says he to Felix), that after the way which 
they call heresy, so worship I the God of my fathers, be- 
lieving all things which are written in the law and the 
prophets." * Nor is it to be wondered at, that a corrupt 
church should get up the cry of heresy against any one 
who has the boldness to differ from her at the time 
being. But such an use of the term is not only unwarrant- 
able, but contrary to scripture. For there we find the 
term heresy too minutely defined to admit of such an 
use. In fact its sense is limited in the apostolic rule 
which relates to it, so as to exclude all such application 
* Acts xxiv. 14. 

B b 



290 



THE APOSTLES. 



of it. "A man that is an heretic," says St Paul to Titus y 
" after the first and second admonition, reject, knowing 
that such is subverted and sinneth, being self-condemn- 
ed." * And these words enable us also to understand 
why heresies should be included among the works of 
the flesh. + For they preclude the idea that heresy is an 
error of the judgment merely, the conscience approving. 
The heretic, says the apostle, is self-condemned. Now 
this can never be the predicament of a man who is acting 
conscientiously. He may indeed be condemned by truth, 
revelation, and right reason, but he cannot be self-con- 
demned until after his conscience has been enlightened. 
But that those whom the apostles charge with heresy 
were self-condemned, fully appears. Thus, describing 
those " damnable heresies which certain false prophets 
should privily bring in," St Peter not only says of them 
that they should deny the Lord that bought them, but 
that through covetousness they should, with feigned 
words, make merchandise of believers ; and, in fact, he 
afterwards shews that they were the worst of men, so 
that they must have been self-condemned.;]; 

But the excommunication of persons possessing ap- 
proving consciences, solely on account of certain varia- 
tions in matters of secondary importance, is inexpedient 
and wrong. And so is dissent in similar circumstances. 
And scarcely can too strong terms be used to point out the 
magnitude of that blunder which certain religionists are 
ever subject to fall into, when they dissent from the church 
they have previously belonged to, while yet they admit 
that the constitution of that church is evangelical. The 
feeling of moral discomfort at being connected with what 
is regarded by them as an impure communion, is not a suffi- 
cient excuse for forming a new sect. Although the churches 
to which the apostolic epistles are addressed plainly 
* Titus iii. 10. f Gal. v. $ 2 Peter ii. 



THE APOSTLES. 



291 



erred, both by defect and excess, and in morality as well as 
in doctrine, and that to a degree painful to think upon, still, 
nothing is farther from the minds of the apostles who ad- 
dress them, than the encouragement of separatism on the 
part of the pious. On the other hand, what says St 
Paul to the Romans ? " Now, I beseech you, brethren, 
mark them which cause divisions and offences, contrary 
to the doctrine which ye have learned ; and avoid them."* 
Nor is it such persons only tliat the Christian must be on 
his guard against. Our Saviour informed his disciples 
that many false prophets should arise, and should deceive 
many ;f and, in reference to them, he says, " Beware of 
false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but 
inwardly they are ravening wolves.'"' Nor does he leave 
the Christian without a mark by which they may be 
known. " Ye shall know them (says he) by their fruits. 
Do men gather grapes of thorns ? or figs of thistles ?"j 
In like manner, the apostle Paul, in his most touching 
address to the elders of the Ephesian Church at his final 
parting from them, says, 4C I know this, that after my de- 
parting shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not 
sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men 
arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples 
after them. Therefore watch." § In a word, it is plain 
that the Christian, whether teacher or taught, must ever 
be on his guard against corruption and seduction. But 
this is one thing ; and to make a schism and separation 
in a church whose constitution is admitted to be evan- 
gelical, is another. The former is right and necessary, 
the latter is unnecessary and wrong. What usually moves 
to separatism in our day is the desire for a purer com- 
munion. And, indeed, the word of God commands 
Christians not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers, 

* Rom. xvi. 1. t Matt. xxiv. 11. 

t Matt. vii. 15. § Acts xx. 29. 



292 



THE APOSTLES. 



because there can be no accord between light and dark- 
ness, between Christ and Belial, between the temple of 
God and idols.* And every one must see the necessity 
and wisdom of such a command. But it does not apply 
to a Christian who feels disposed to dissent on account of 
the faults which happen to exist at the time in the church 
which he belongs to. and whose creed and constitution 
he admits to be evangelical. Communion with idolators 
was quite another thing. Those from whom the Purist 
would separate profess faith in Christ, and claim to be 
Christians as well as he. Far from being professors of 
idolatry, they would feel wronged at their Christianity 
being doubted or suspected. Great, nay appalling, as 
were the corruptions of the Church of Corinth, we find 
that, with the single exception of the incestuous person^ 
St Paul only exhorted, entreated to unity, and promised 
more grace if unity were maintained. To leave a church 
simply because we desire a purer communion than our 
neighbourhood happens to supply, while yet we can 
lay to its charge none of those scandals which, according 
to apostolic precept, demand our separation, is to act in 
opposition to many evangelical principles. It is to please 
ourselves instead of seeking others good.-f* It is to esteem 
ourselves more highly than others.^ It is to become 
judges of another's servants.§ It is to become judges 
of evil thoughts. || Nor is this all. It is to leave the 
mother who taught us the way to God, and who (if we are 
right in our own ideas of our greater holiness and purity) 
only needs many such as we are to be all that we could 
wish her to be. It is to take away the salt which ought 
to have been used to preserve the mass from corruption.^ 
It is to set apart and by itself the leaven, which being 
mixed, ought to have leavened the whole lump. It is 

* 2 Cor. vi. 14. t Rom. xv. 1. $ Phil. ii. 3. 

§ Rom. xiv. 4. || James ii. 4. H Matt. v. 13, 



THE APOSTLES. 



293 



to take away the wheat, and leave the whole field to the 
tares.* It is to hide our light under a bushel, when, had 
it been duly put in a candlestick, it might have given 
light to the whole house. t It is to expose ourselves to 
a disappointment which we ought to have foreseen, 
namely, that, though for some years, while our new com- 
munion continues small, and consists only of those 
piously disposed persons who formed it, it may continue 
pure, yet, when it increases, or even when it owes its 
continued existence to ordinary descent and hereditary 
religion, then, like other communions, it will unavoidably 
fall into corruption and laxness of discipline likewise, na- 
turally growing, in fact, in the course of Providence, and, 
notwithstanding all the purism of its first founders, into 
what the word of God leads us to expect that every 
branch of the visible church will be, — a net containing 
fishes of every kind, a field containing tares as well as 
wheat. 

Doubtless it were desirable beyond all things, that 
every one who claimed the name of Christian, were both 
almost and altogether a Christian. Doubtless every 
Christian ought to endeavour, above all things, each in 
his own walk, and by his own walk, to bring all to the 
unity of the faith, to the stature of perfect men in 
Christ Jesus, that the name of God may be glorified 
by the whole church, and that hallowed may be the 
name of our heavenly Father, and his will done on earth 
as it is in heaven. But is this glorious cause, and the 
supremacy on earth of the God of love to be advanced 
and established by breeding schism upon schism ? Is 
it by every little spirit shewing that his soul is still more 
minute and more exact than the little spirit he differs 
from ? Is it by each erecting a barrier, proportionally 
small indeed, but yet insurmountable, between Church- 
* Matt. xiii. t Matt. v. 15. 



294 



THE APOSTLES. 



man and Dissenter, between Lutheran and Reformed, 
Episcopalian, Presbyterian, and Independent, — between 
Paedobaptist and Antipaedobaptist, Freewill Baptist, Se- 
venth-day Baptist, Six-principle Baptist, &c. &c. &c? 

Oh ! what a contrast to all this did our blessed Savi- 
our himself during all His life on earth display, as he 
went about continually doing good, preaching pardon, 
and praying for the unity of His disciples, and laying 
down grand principles of righteousness and love, the 
very type of true magnanimity in all things ! What a 
contrast was He to the little spirits of our day, the sickly 
little spirits, who are ever thinking, ever proposing, 
ever stickling, ever learning, and never able to come to 
the knowledge of the truth ; ever lingering, ever stop- 
ping, ever meeting and ever splitting ; ever making the 
name of the Son of the God of love the occasion of 
manifesting the native coldness and hatred of their 
hearts ; as if hatred were not hatred, when it had suc- 
ceeded in setting itself off in the language of religion ; 
as if hatred were devotion, and not as it really is, two- 
fold more damnable, when professing to be awoke by the 
love of Christ. " I say unto you, Love your enemies, 
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate 
you, and pray for them that despitefully use you and 
persecute you, that you may be the children of your 
Father which is in heaven, for He maketh His sun to 
rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on 
the just and on the unjust." * Our blessed Redeemer ! 
thus calleth He on us. "I therefore, the prisoner of 
the Lord, beseech you, that ye walk worthy of the vo- 
cation wherewith you are called, with all lowliness and 
meekness, with long-suffering, forbearing one another 
in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit 
in the bond of peace." f The apostle Paul, — so calleth 

* Matt. v. 44. t Eph. iv. |, 



THE APOSTLES. 



295 



he on us. " Be ye all of one mind, having compassion 
one of another ; love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous : 
not rendering evil for evil, or railing for railing : but 
contrariwise blessing ; knowing that ye are thereunto 
called, that ye should inherit a blessing."* The apostle 
Peter — so saith he. And need we quote again from the 
other apostles, James, and John, and Jude. 

But how is this responded to amongst us ? Alas ! 
when any scheme, based on some Catholic principle, 
which may equally embrace all evangelical Christians, 
is proposed, I cannot go along with them, says one — 
I cannot go along with them, says another. And why ? 
Because, forsooth, each thinks something in it, or in the 
other who takes a lead in it, wrong. And because of this 
single point, which he takes to be wrong, he is blind to all 
that is right in the enterprise. That — every body grants 
to be right, why need he mind it ! He perceives some- 
thing wrong. Let that be brought out. Let the descri- 
minating power of his religious principle fully appear ! 
Let his egotism have vent. It may be, after all, nothing 
more than merely a dispute about words. Still he deems 
it wrong. Perhaps, after all, he can say little against it, 
but that it does not please him. Still he will have nothing 
to do with it. And whether he be guilty before God in this 
state of conviction, seeing that, instead of being aware 
that it is all a work of mere egotism and self-esteem, he 
regards it as a work of conscience, we will not inquire. 
But hence it comes to pass that many a man who is active 
as to every little religious matter of his own, draws back 
and remains idle as to every great matter ; or if not idle, 
then opposing it, ever seeking for listeners to whom, in 
his anxiety to have a broader basis for his opposition than 
his own questionable sensibilities, he may shew how 
wrong they are, how right he is. Hollow demonstra- 
* 1 Peter iii. 8, 



296 



THE APOSTLES. 



tion, without either arguments or evidence, which are not 
balanced on the other side. " I feel (says he), I feel." 
No doubt he feels. But " let him have his feelings to 
himself before God." Happy will he be if he condemn 
not himself in that thing which he alloweth. For these 
convictions, these feelings, which are awoke by these ex- 
clusive views, and which will not listen with candour, or 
grant toleration to those of the other side, are usually 
no better than mere sensibility, the spawn of mere tem- 
perament, the fruit of the flesh swelling in ignorance and 
ripening into ashes. 

Oh, how opposite to all this quibbling about matters of 
dubiety, how different from such points as those which 
now divide the evangelical churches, were those inquiries 
which Jesus made as to the mind of those to whom He 
committed the first preaching of His gospel just before 
He left them for heaven. He put three questions to the 
apostle Peter, whose inconstancy invited his being singled 
out for such a trial. And what were these questions ? 
Was the first about shades of doctrinal difference ? 
Would you say that it touched on supralapsarianism, or 
sublapsarianism, or Armenianism ? Was the second about 
the form of a ritual ? Would you say that it touched on 
being too symbolic, or too simple, that it savoured too 
much of Popish splendour, or too much of puritanical 
rudeness ? Was the third about church polity and govern- 
ment ? Would you say that it made for Episcopacy, or 
Presbytery, or Independency, or something new ? Let us 
hear our Saviour's own words. They were uttered on the 
shore of the sea of Tiberias, and after the apostles, whom 
He met there, had partaken of a repast which He had 
miraculously provided for them. Jesus saith to Simon 
Peter, " Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than 
these \ He saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; thou knowest 
that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my lambs. 



THE APOSTLES. 



297 



He saith to him again a second time, Simon, son of Jonas, 
lovest thou me ? He saith unto him, Yea, Lord ; thou 
knowest that I love thee. He saith unto him, Feed my 
sheep. He saith unto him the third time, Simon, son of 
Jonas, lovest thou me ? Peter was grieved because he 
said unto him the third time, Lovest thou me ? And he 
said unto him, Lord, thou knowest all things ; thou know- 
est that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my 
sheep.*' 

What, then, was the first point on which the apostle was 
questioned by our Lord ? It was whether he loved Christ. 
And what was the second ? It was whether he loved 
Christ. And what was the third ? It was whether he 
loved Christ. Thus the love of Christ was made to em- 
brace and imply every qualification. And what were the 
three charges which our Saviour delivered to the apostle I 
Did he instruct him well how to be a good polemic in 
church and state, and how to stickle and to sting well, 
and how to exaggerate an error of a Christian brother, 
and shew that it leads to ruinous consequences, all charged 
to its author, though he does not acknowledge one of 
them ? What are the charges which our Saviour actually 
gives ? The first is " Feed my lambs." Nor need Ave 
wonder at this, for the pastoral care is plainly the first 
duty of the pastor. But what is the second ? It is feed 
my sheep. And what is the third ? It is feed my sheep. 
And this is all ! And thus, as the love of Christ was made 
to imply every thing in point of doctrine, so is the pasto~ 
ral care made to imply every thing in point of duty. 

But Peter was presumptuous, and there was still room 
for him to suppose that his own vocation, notwithstand- 
ing the emphatic manner in which it had now been limit- 
ed, did not preclude him from interference with others. 
Our Lord, therefore, having delivered, in language of 
touching tenderness, a prophecy as to the persecutions that 



298 



THE APOSTLES. 



awaited the apostle in his old age, adds to his former 
charge, yet this other, " Follow me." And out of this 
command arose a scene full of most precious instruction 
to us. John was present ; and he followed our Saviour 
as well as Peter, which observing, the latter said to 
Jesus, " Lord, what shall this man do?" And to this 
question our Saviour gave this most instructive answer ; 
" If I will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ? 
follow thou me." Such was the ultimate limitation of 
his calling. He ought to mind his own charge, and 
that only. And would, that all Christians would but go 
and do likewise, for then there would be none of those 
unwarrantable interferences of one man with another, 
which are ever kindling strife ; but all looking unto Jesus 
the Saviour of all, and following him, all would be as one 
in seeking a holy life, and the glory of God ; and what- 
ever the variety of gifts and forms which might continue 
in different men, or in different churches, still there would 
be a true unity in the church, as a whole ; and it would 
be acceptable to God, and approved of men, and many 
would be added to it daily, by such as should be saved. 

But it is not so with us. And how shall we answer 
to the God of love, before whose judgment-seat we must 
all appear ? Shall we trust in our word of wisdom, or to 
our word of knowledge, to our faith, or to our gifts of heal- 
ing, to our miracles, to our prophecies, or to our tongues ? 
Alas, we have nothing of the kind to trust in. But though 
we had, — though we were tenfold more highly gifted 
than the apostle Paul himself, still our gifts, if without 
the grace of charity and love, would not acquit us, would 
not avail us. For what says he, " Though I speak with 
the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, 
I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 
And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand 
all mysteries, and all knowledge ; and though I have all 



THE WHOLE BIBLE. 



299 



faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not 
charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my 
goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be 
burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing. 
Charity suffereth long, and is kind ; charity envieth not ; 
charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, doth not be- 
have itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily 
provoked, thinketh no evil ; rejoiceth not in iniquity, but 
rejoiceth in the truth ; beareth all things, believeth all 
things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity 
never faileth : but whether there be prophecies, they shall 
fail ; whether there be tongues, they shall cease ; whether 
there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know 
in part, and prophesy in part. But when that which is 
perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done 
away. When I was a child, I spake as a child, I under- 
stood as a child, I thought as a child ; but when I be- 
came a man, I put away childish things. For now we 
see through a glass, darkly ; but then face to face : 
now I know in part ; but then shall I know even as also 
I am known. And now abideth faith, hope, charity, 
these three ; but the greatest of these is charity." 

THE WHOLE BIBLE. 

The question, whether of the two is most congenial with 
true religion, and the spirit of the gospel in the present 
state of society ; first, an absolute uniformity over all, as 
the Church of Rome maintains, and in favour of which 
many Protestants feel prepossessed ; or, secondly, an 
unity of spirit, in variety of form, such as that which all 
evangelical communions, if united in mutual recognition 
and love, might immediately display, has now been an- 
swered, by viewing each part of the Bible separately, 
and considering the whole as composed of the writings of 



300 



THE WHOLE BIBLE. 



Moses, the Prophets, the Evangelists, the Apostles. And 
here we may recapitulate, in a few words, the results 
which we have obtained. 

In reference to the writings of Moses, we have found" 
that, summing up his whole history of the Church, it dis- 
plays in a very remarkable manner a great variety of 
forms at different times, though with an unity of spirit 
all through. Thus, as to the priesthood, when the world 
was in a certain state, as for instance, in the days of Cain 
and Abel, each man was his own priest. Afterwards, as, 
for instance, in the days of the patriarchs, the father of 
the family only was the priest. Afterwards, as, for in- 
stance, under the Mosaic institution, one tribe or family 
was set apart for the priesthood, and there were no 
priests besides in any other of all the families of that na- 
tion in which the true religion was vested. In like man- 
ner, as to sacrifices, ritual, &e. they were for long, offered 
in kind, time, and place, determined (at least as is gene- 
rally thought), by the dictates of the individual piety of 
the worshipper. Afterwards, they were regulated in all 
these particulars by laws which could only be violated at 
the peril of the worshipper. In a word, whatever fea- 
ture of religion we turn to, we are called upon to observe, 
as the circumstances of the worshippers change, a great 
variety of form developing itself — or rather, we ought to 
say, developed by God ; for during all this aera God kept 
the Church in immediate communication with himself, or 
immediate dependence upon Him. 

Such were the results we obtained from consulting 
Moses ; and from this state of things we concluded that 
if, instead of existing successively, as there did then in 
the families who constituted the Church, there existed 
simultaneously a great variety in the circumstances and 
states of society in different regions of the earth, as there 
does now in the families for whom the true religion is 



THE WHOLE BIBLE. 



301 



designed, a similar variety of forms in religion, pro- 
vided the same unity of spirit were maintained over all, 
would be just as suitable ; and that, since the develop- 
ment of the primitive Church was the immediate work of 
God, the existence of variety of form in the Church now 
actually extant, provided there be unity of spirit along 
with it, is not to be rashly condemned as a thing impro- 
per in itself, or contrary to the will of God. 

In reference to the prophets, in like manner, we found 
that whether we fix at once on that inimitably beautiful 
picture of Isaiah, where he represents the gospel Church, 
or notice that of Ezekiel, or those of the Psalms, or the 
vision of St Peter, or any other symbolic or prophetic 
representation suitable to the case, we are equally led, 
not to an absolute uniformity over all, but to an unity of 
spirit in variety of form as conspicuous in the picture 
given of the universal church. Thus we find that Isaiah 
presents to us, as a representation of the Christian church, 
all the various species of the creation, dwelling in mutual 
harmlessness and love on the holy mountain ; that David 
presents to us as its picture, the city of Jerusalem with its 
manifold towers, palaces, bulwarks ; that, in the vision of 
St Peter, it is figured by all manner of creatures legally un- 
clean as well as clean, as it is elsewhere by the ark, which 
contained the whole variety of the creation. In a word, 
all that we found led to the same view, namely, that 
though an unity of spirit ought unquestionably to pervade 
all, and prevail over all, yet a great variety of form is 
compatible with that unity, and is to be expected in that 
Church, which was then in their eye, and now is. 

Turning, then, from the Old to the New Testament 
scriptures, we found that our Saviour represented his 
Church, though all under himself as the only shepherd, 
yet as composed of various folds, and we gathered with 
certainty from his own mouth, that the bond which 



302 



THE WHOLE BIBLE. 



unites his disciples into one is not any outward agree- 
ment in ritual, confession, &c. in a word not any mere 
outward act of uniformity, but a spiritual relationship 
to Himself (like that of the body to the head, the branch 
to the vine), and through Him to one another. Here, also, 
we found a new development and emphasis given to the 
principle of unity, in so far as it does and ought to ma- 
nifest itself between man and man. " A new command- 
ment (said our Saviour) give I unto you, that ye love 
one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my 
disciples, if ye have love one towards another." 

Leaving the evangelists, then, for the apostolic epistles, 
we found the same doctrine so largely set forth, and we 
dwelt so minutely on its evidence as there displayed, 
that we need not return to it now. In the apostolic 
epistles also, harmoniously with the books of the prophets, 
we found that the church is compared to a body com- 
posed of many members all united into one, differing in 
form and office, but all agreeing, and mutually honouring 
and assisting each other ; also to a temple built of many 
variously fitted stones, united by one chief corner-stone. 
In short, the review which we have taken of each of the 
sections into which the scriptures may be conveniently 
divided, has led us to the same conclusion, — and that all in 
opposition to the idea that an universal uniformity among 
all churches is indispensable to unity, — all in favour of 
the idea that there may be a true and Christian unity in 
the midst of much variety in outward forms. 

Our argument from the scriptures is not complete, 
however, unless we view them as a whole. For, though 
the Bible may be viewed as a volume of inspired tracts, 
each having an independent unity of its own, and its own 
epoch, authorship, and signification, yet the Bible, consi- 
dered as a whole, is also an unity. It is, in fact, that 
unity which is emphatically " the truth." It is the whole 



THE WHOLE BIBLE. 



303 



truth, and nothing but the truth. A few words are there- 
fore required on the bearings on our argument of the 
Bible considered as a whole. 

And to what conclusion shall we be led, if we view 
the Bible, as well as the ark, or the holy city, or the holy 
mountain, as a type and representative of the church ? 
We shall find that the testimony which it gives is alto- 
gether one with that which all the others give. In a 
word, what a beautiful illustration does the Bible supply 
of an all but infinite variety, yet with a perfect unity of 
truth and spirit therewith ! How different from those 
dry productions named codes of laws, decrees of councils, 
canons, creeds, and the like, which mere human intelli- 
gence has composed, is that volume in which the law of 
God is contained ! What a beautiful development and 
display of truth from Genesis to the Apocalypse ! The 
path of revelation, like that of the just, which it opens, 
" is like the shining light, which shineth more and more 
unto the perfect day." " As the earth bringeth forth 
fruit herself, first the blade, then the ear, after that the 
full corn in the ear, so is the kingdom of God, — so is 
the course of revelation, of which the Bible is the sum. 
All is life, change, development. And though such be 
the value of the sacred volume, that, if a man do but 
cast his desires into it, with pious trust and expectation, 
as a man casts seed into the ground, and though he but 
sleep and rise night and day, in other words, though he 
have not much understanding of the theory of revelation, 
or of the Bible as'a whole, at once successive and simul- 
taneous, yet still the spiritual life will spring up in his 
heart, he knoweth not how ; and all will be well with him. 
But he who studies the blessed volume, each book in re- 
lation to the times in which it was communicated, and 
the circumstances of the people to whom it was first 
given, and each also in relation to each other book, and 



304 



THE WHOLE BIBLE. 



the whole in relation to himself, will have his piety still 
more amply rewarded by many a grand discovery of un- 
looked-for truth. Yes, every page of the sacred volume 
will become endeared to his heart and conscience. His 
reason, as well as his faith, will feed upon it. Its truths 
will come home to him. He will not need merely to 
submit to its dictates, as the desultory or merely formal 
reader must ever do, if he is to maintain his piety in the 
perusal of it. Instead of needing to submit, the Bible stu- 
dent will embrace. And among other discoveries he will 
make, is that which it belongs to our present object to 
insist on, namely, the beautiful variety of form always in 
the unity of spirit, which the word of God displays. 
Moses, David, Isaiah, Amos, Ezekiel, Daniel, Paul, 
James, John, how varied their different styles, their dif- 
ferent subjects, their different objects, their different 
lights, in a word, how varied the books themselves, which 
the Holy Ghost through them has bequeathed to us ! 
Yet, with all that variety, what unity of spirit and of 
truth ! 

If, then* we are to take the Bible, as a whole, as re- 
presenting the Catholic Church, whose charter it is, — if 
we are to view its individual parts as analogous to indi- 
vidual churches, we are led by this, as by all the other 
evidence which we have deduced from the Scriptures, to 
regard an unity of spirit in variety of form, not an abso- 
lute uniformity over all, as a constitution of the universal 
church, which the Scriptures even lead us to expect at 
least during a certain epoch, and onS which, while the 
state of society is such, that a variety of form in an unity 
of spirit is peculiarly well adapted to supply the spiritual 
wants of the pious, — peculiarly fitted for gathering in 
the elect, — is not to be condemned on any scriptural 
grounds. 

But let us now view the argument in the light of rea- 
son. 



PART V. 



THE 

LIGHT OF REASON. 

THE ARGUMENT FROM THE LIMITS TO UNIFORMITY. 

THE ANALOGY OF NATURE. 

' . . THE PRINCIPLE OF BEAUTY. 

FITNESS AND UTILITY. 

THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIP- 
TURE, AND THE MEANS OF GRACE. 

THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HU- 
MAN MIND. 



C C 



( 307 ) 



ON THE LIMITS TO UNIFORMITY IMPLIED IN THE VERY IDEA 
OF AN EXTENDED OBJECT OR INSTITUTION, SUCH AS A 
CHURCH. 

We proceed next to view our subject in the light of 
reason ; and, with a few arguments in this point of view, 
we shall close it up, and leave the reader to his own con- 
victions. 

In an early section* it was shewn, that a strong pre- 
possession in favour of an universal uniformity in the 
church might be expected in men in general, independ- 
ently altogether of any positive evidence or arguments in 
its favour, and solely from the inherent and indiscrimi- 
nate love of uniformity and order which animates the 
human mind. Let us now inquire how far such a pre- 
possession is reasonable in reference to the Christian 
Church. And does it not immediately appear that there 
are limits to an absolute uniformity which cannot be re- 
moved, and which necessitate at all times the existence 
of no small variety in the unity of the visible church? 

In fact, how can any visible object, whatever its nature, 
possibly possess an universal uniformity ? Say that it 
is but a circle, which, of all visible objects, is the most 
simple, compact, and united. Have we not even here a 
centre and a circumference, and many different points 
lying between them, dissimilarly related to both, and to 
one another ? Yes, even in a circle, and that how- 
ever small, there must be variety as well as unity. But 
:: P. 93. 



308 ON THE NECESSARY LIMITS TO UNIFORMITY. 

it will not be denied that a circle possesses an unity as 
perfect as any visible object possibly can possess ; and 
that what is true of a circle, as to the limited character 
of its unity, must be true of all other visible objects. It 
appears, therefore, that the unity appropriate to visible 
objects is not, and cannot possibly be an absolute unity. 
It can only be a modified unity. It can only be an unity 
in variety. It cannot possibly be an unity, consisting in 
an universal uniformity and sameness in all respects and 
every where. It can only be an unity, consisting in a 
variety of harmonizing objects, all pointing to a central 
principle or object, and made one by their harmonious 
relation to it. And what has thus been shewn in refe- 
rence to every object that is visible, or consists in magni- 
tude, may be seen at once to be equally true of every ob- 
ject that is made up of many, or consists of multitude. 
In every such case an absolute unity is similarly unsuit- 
able. An unity in variety is alone appropriate. 

Now, to apply this general reasoning to the particular 
case on hand, what are we to infer with respect to the 
true unity of the Church of Christ, or the unity which is 
alone appropriate to it ? The reader will have already 
inferred for himself, that, if an absolute unity be unat- 
tainable and unsuitable, even to the simplest and most 
unchangeable object, if only it be visible, much more 
must it be unsuitable to such an institution as the visible 
church — the church which is not only designed to be ex- 
tended over all the globe, and to embrace a multitude 
whom no man can number, but which consists of ele- 
ments so intimately varied and so ever-varying, that, of 
all the millions which compose it, not one is similar to 
himself in two successive years of his existence — not one 
able to tell to-day what he shall be, or do, or suffer to- 
morrow — not one of them similar to another, but each 
actuated by his own inherent peculiarities — nay more, 



ON THE NECESSARY LIMITS TO UNIFORMITY. 309 

animated by a principle of spontaneity, and a conscious 
freedom of choice, which recoil even from the very idea 
of compulsion and force. Such are the elements of the 
visible church. And are these the elements for which an 
absolute unity is suitable, an unity which has been shewn 
to be incompatible, even with the smallest form of inert 
materialism ? Do we not find here rather the elements 
of an endless variety ? 

And when, turning from the abstract question, we look 
into the Gospel, and find it to be so spiritual, and itself 
such an unity, that all its principles, may be comprised 
in one great truth addressed to the understanding,* and 
another great moral principle addressed to the heart, t 
and a third requiring that these two principles be in- 
woven into one in the unity of the souij — -when we con- 
sider these things, does it not appear, on the very face of 
the question, that the unit j of the church is an unity of 
spirit, strict and indispensable indeed, but yet most truly 
spiritual, so as to be in no degree impaired or deformed 
by all that variety which differences in people, nation, 
kindred, tongue, temperament, strength of reason, or light 
in conscience, suggest and render unavoidable. 

Ought we, then, in reference to the Church of Christ, 
to indulge our minds any longer in their prepossessions 
in favour of an absolute uniformity therein ? If our de- 
sires and expectations should be regulated universally by 
proprieties and possibilities, is it reasonable to expect or 
demand an universal sameness in an institution selecting 
its objects out of every sphere of humanity, and wide as 
the world in its embrace % Where ought we, with such 

* " Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." — 
Acts xvi. 31. 

t " Love worketh no ill to his neighbour : therefore, love is the 
fulfilling of the law." — Rom. xiii. 10. 

X " For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth any thing, 
nor uncircumcision ; but faith, that worketh by love." — Gal. v. 7- 



310 ON THE NECESSARY LIMITS TO UNIFORMITY. 

obvious propriety, to desire and expect that spiritual 
unity which embodies a harmonious variety of external 
forms around it, as in this grand and universal institu- 
tion, designed not only to embrace them all in its ample 
bosom, but also to be suited to the spiritual wants of the 
redeemed of every age, and every kindred, and people, 
and tongue, — a glorious multitude whom no man can 
number. 

This appears very obvious, even when we extend our 
views no farther than we have been doing now, namely, 
to the visible church. But if we extend them to the 
Catholic Church, in its widest sense, the church that 
consists of all the redeemed, — those already in heaven, 
as well as those still on earth, — it is evident that there 
is no place at all for such an idea as absolute unity or 
uniformity over all. Doubtless there is in all the same 
unity of spirit, associating into one harmonious and pleas- 
ing company all the saints of God, whether glorified in 
heaven, or not glorified as yet. The views of the blessed 
are indeed brighter than ours, since theirs are of vision, 
while ours are but of faith. Their love is stronger, too, 
because they are nearer its fountain. But still they are 
one with us in spirit. This the whole tenor of revela- 
tion calls on us to believe. They are members of that 
one body, of which we, if we be Christians, are members 
too. It is obvious, however, that between them and us 
there can be nothing common in externals. In the wor- 
ship of the blessed spirits in the realms above, who praise 
God amid the glories of the sky, there must be a vast 
difference from any forms of worship that can exist on 
earth, 

In reference to the whole church, therefore, invisible 
as well as visible, it is obvious that the idea of an 
absolute uniformity, or any unity in which there is not 
great variety also, is quite out of the question. This 



ON THE NECESSARY LIMITS OF UNIFORMITY. 



311 



argument is, however, of a very general nature, and 
need not be longer dwelt upon. Let it, therefore, be 
only remarked further, that, even in the most compre- 
hensive view of the church that can be taken, we find 
nothing anywhere to interfere in the least with the pos- 
sibility and propriety of the most perfect harmony, the 
most perfect unity of spirit. Truth calls for the exis- 
tence of this in every sphere where her voice can be 
heard. 



THE ARGUMENT FROM THE ANALOGY OF NATURE. 



Let us now direct our regards for a little to the visible 
universe around us, and inquire what it teaches as to the 
true form of the unity of the church. Let us consider 
the analogy of nature. Nor let any one suppose that 
these two, — nature and the church, — are things so hete- 
rogeneous, that they cannot be compared with propriety, 
nor from what actually exist in the one, an argument be 
raised as to what ought to exist in the other.. It is, in- 
deed, most true, that the world, using the term in the 
evangelical sense, is a thing existing in direct opposition 
to the church, and if the two are ever brought into com- 
parison, it ought only to be in order to shew the contrast 
that exists between them. But the world, ih the Scrip- 
ture sense, is one thing, and that which, in modern science, 
is called Nature, the visible universe around us, is another. 
The former is a region of deformity and sin, the creation 
of Satan, and of the lawlessness of man. The latter is 
a beautiful sphere, where all is " very good," and still 
bears on every point the impress of the finger of God. 
Much has already been done for the interests of revealed 
religion, by shewing its harmonies with the analogy of 
nature ; and certainly the argument of analogy may be 



312 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



legitimately resorted to here. If, in the beginning, God 
created the heavens and the earth ; if they are His insti- 
tutions ; if His will is embodied in them ; if His power 
upholds them ; if He gave them for signs as well as for 
seasons, and to shew forth His glory and his handiwork, 
as well as to minister to our mere enjoyments, it is surely 
safe to reason from the form and structure which He has 
imparted to them, to the form and structure of another 
institution which He has placed in the hands of man, 
and called on him to regulate ; and which, though it 
cannot be constructed upon positive precepts furnished 
by revelation, both for want of a sufficient number, and 
for want of a general agreement among Christians as to 
the import of those which are, yet is admitted by all to 
approach nearer and nearer to what it ought to be, the 
more and more it is brought into harmony with the 
will and design of God ? Let us, therefore, look to the 
form and constitution of the creation around us for light 
upon the question, whether an absolute uniformity over 
all, or unity of spirit in variety of form, be the true con- 
stitution of the Christian Church ? 

Carrying our thoughts, then, as high as possible, in the 
first place, even to the celestial intelligences who dwell 
altogether in the spiritual world, what do we learn as to 
the frame-work and constitution of their blessed society ? 
Looking into the Scripture, which is our only source of 
knowledge on this subject, we find that they differ from 
each other in rank and power. We have not, indeed, 
information minute enough to enable us to describe their 
various orders in detail. But that such orders do exist 
in a series, is certainly very clearly intimated, when we 
find them classified, as we do in the Bible, into thrones 
and dominions, principalities and powers, angels and arch- 
angels. This is, indeed, a point which does not need to 
be dwelt upon. It will not be disputed. It has ever been 



THE ANALOGY OF NATURE. 



313 



a prevalent and even a favourite idea, that there is a 
celestial scale of blessed intelligences extending upwards 
through cherubim and seraphim, from spirits which are 
but the glorified souls of the dead, to the archangel who 
stands on the very step of the throne of the Eternal. 
But where there is such a scale, there must be a cor- 
responding variety. All forms and manifestations of in- 
telligence and sensibility, compatible with holiness and 
pure blessedness, must be there. But, notwithstanding 
all this beautiful variety, it is certain that there pre- 
vails, amongst these glorious beings, the most perfect 
unity of spirit. The Scripture represents to us ten 
thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands 
standing all in the presence of the God whom they love, 
and joining all in the same hymn of praise.* A perfect 
unity of spirit, therefore, in a beautiful variety of form 
and manifestation, is that constitution of things to which 
the contemplation of the heavenly society conducts us. 
And what we thus find to be true of the celestial intelli- 
gences, considered as embracing angels and archangels, 
is true also, even if we confine our regard to the spirits 
of the redeemed only. For of them we learn that they, 
too, differ as one star differs from another star in glory. 

And if from the spiritual we turn to the material hea- 
vens, we do but find another instance, in this sphere of the 
creation, of the same principle exemplified, as is indeed im- 
plied in the words of the apostle just quoted. Looking to the 
starry heavens, how perfect the unity, and yet how beau- 
tiful the variety that is over all ! Directing our contempla- 
tions to the solar system, which alone, of all that is in the 
sky, can be said to be in any measure well known to us, 
what unity is here ! Around the sun, as the centre of all, 
the whole system is seen revolving in the same direction 
in a beautiful harmony, as if all the individuals which 
* Rev. v. 12. 

D d 



314 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



compose it were animated by the same spirit. But is it 
an absolute unity withal ? On the contrary, on nearer 
inspection, each planet, while it joins in the general har- 
mony, proves also to have its own form, its own density, 
its own distances, its own movements; so that, along 
with an unity in spirit, there is a pleasing variety over 
all. Looking to the material heavens, then, we find that 
the same form and constitution has been given to them, 
which we have just had occasion to observe in the hea- 
venly hosts. In what is revealed above us to the mate- 
rial eye, just as in what is revealed to the soul in the 
same regions, we find that unity of spirit in variety of 
form and manifestation, is the order of nature, the frame 
and constitution which the Creator has imparted equally 
to the angelic and the sidereal systems which He has 
made. 

But let us now descend from the contemplation of the 
glories that are above us, in order to cast our regards 
around us, on our own level, and beneath us, and what 
is the order of things which we find instituted here ? 
Look to the constitution of the mind of man. What va- 
riety of faculties and feelings, — sensation, perception, me- 
mory, imagination, attention, judgment, love, hatred, 
joy, grief, gratitude, anger, revenge ! And yet how com- 
pletely are all these held together in that unity which 
one calls — I, — myself ! In our mental constitution, 
therefore, we find still a recurrence, by the Creator, to 
the same order of things. And in man's outward form 
and constitution, in like manner, how completely is the 
same principle illustrated. All are ever one in all the 
primary lineaments of humanity, but yet is our species 
so varied into races, and each race into the individuals 
that compose it, that no such thing was ever yet found 
among all the millions of the world's population, as two 
individuals who were quite similar to one another. Each, 



THE ANALOGY OF NATURE. 



315 



while he still bears about him the indefeasible lineaments 
of humanity, has also a character and a form of his own, 
so that, on the one aspect, out of the unity of humanity, 
an all but infinite variety has been developed, and on the 
other, all this variety continues still to be ever embraced 
by the unity of humanity. 

And if from the individuals of our race themselves, we 
turn our thoughts to the pursuits they are following, what 
endless variety here ! But yet not a variety without an 
unity in spirit too. For however various, in the general 
darkness, are the roads they take, still happiness is the 
one object which all are pursuing, — the one star round 
which all are sailing, traversing, and reeling. 

And corresponding in form to this variety in indivi- 
dual pursuit, are the governments which all men are 
under. Nor is the consideration of government to be 
rejected from our argument, for we know that it is " an 
ordinance of God," by which those who are the slaves 
of criminal indulgence, may be prevented from destroy- 
ing the order of society, and interfering with the liberty 
of the others. Well, then, conjoined with this unity of 
object, what variety in governments ! One nation is 
well under a hereditary monarch, to whom the whole po- 
pulation yields an unconditional obedience, and from 
whom all law emanates as from a source. Another is 
well in a republic, where the whole population co-operate 
in framing the laws by which they shall be governed, 
and with no other head but one of themselves, chosen 
from time to time, to act as president. Another is bet- 
ter than either, where the government is in the form of 
a kingdom, where a hereditary prince, whose treasury is in 
the keeping of his people, administers the laws which his 
subjects of all classes co-operate with him in framing, 
and in reforming, from age to age, so that they may be 
always co-ordinate with the advancement of society. 



316 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



Nor is this all. Besides these three great types of go- 
vernment, many other intermediate forms are conceiv- 
able, and many such do in point of fact exist, and they 
are often excellently suited to the peculiar states of so- 
ciety which have called them into being. Yet, though 
so varied in form and manifestation, all these institutions 
are one in this, that each is a government, and all have for 
their object to form a bond of social security and peace. 

But let us now make the third and last step in our 
progress. Passing from the intellectual world, and from 
man, the lord of this lower creation, let us contemplate 
for a moment the globe itself, and the creatures which 
inhabit it. What all but infinite variety is there here ! 
and yet what harmony, what unity, along with it every 
where ! Let us peruse the 104th psalm, which nothing can 
equal, either in a truthful description of the variety of 
the creation, or in poetic or picturesque beauty. In that 
inimitable composition, the variety displayed by every 
kingdom of nature, is brought before us in the very spirit 
of the subjects which are described, while, in the compo- 
sition of the sacred hymn itself, also the same unity of 
spirit and variety of detail is beautifully preserved. 

Treating of the richness and variety of the physical 
system, the inspired poet brings under our eye succes- 
sively the heavens, stretched out like a curtain, the seas 
like a floor, the clouds like chariots, the wind like wings, 
the foundations of the earth fixed as if they should never 
be moved, the waters ever moving, ascending, descend- 
ing, going, returning. Now, though such be the variety 
which the physical economy displays, the most recent 
discoveries of modern science all point to the conclusion, 
that all this rich and beautiful variety of the inorganic 
kingdom is composed of one and the same elementary 
substance or material principle. And it is no longer a 
matter of conjecture merely, that all the variety which 



TH£ ANALOGY OF NATURE. 



317 



the Psalmist next brings under our notice, — valleys and 
mountains, river-courses and plains, day and night, sum- 
mer and winter, the moon marking seasons by her varia- 
tions, the sim knowing the time of his setting,— it is mat- 
ter of demonstration, that all this variety results from the 
operation of a single law, is all embraced by the single prin- 
ciple of gravitation. In like manner, the variety of the 
vegetable kingdom, so beautifully touched by the Psalmist 
in the same divine hymn, — the full-grown cedar of Leba- 
non, the trees with leafy branches, where the little birds 
sing, and those yielding food, wine, oil, bread, and herbage, 
for the use of man, and grass for cattle, — all this exquisite 
variety is developed out of a single principle of life, a 
single organic tissue. It is, however, in the animal king- 
dom, most especially, that we find this beautiful and all- 
pervading principle of unity of spirit in variety of form, 
most emphatically embodied. And here, too, let us not 
fail to remark the beautiful variety which the Psalmist 
brings under our notice in the same ode : The beasts of 
the field, the wild asses coming to quench their thirst at 
the shady brooks, while the small birds are singing among 
the leafy boughs over them, and the cattle browzing on 
the grass growing around, the wild goats climbing the 
steeps of the mountains, and the jerboas leaping among 
the rocks, the stork building her nest among the tops 
of the trees, while the young lions are roaring after their 
prey beneath. As to the sea, likewise, it too is full of 
the riches of creation. There are reptiles and fishes 
without number, creatures both small and great. 

Such is the variety of creatures which, even in this 
short hymn, the Psalmist brings under our notice. Now. 
it is truly a beautiful result of modern science, that this 
vast, this all but infinite variety of creatures, so different 
in their forms, habits, endowments, are yet all built upon 
the same plan, after the same model : and are, in a word, 



318 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



the same idea, beautifully, and all but infinitely varied 
indeed, but still the same idea. Such is the admirable 
unity of spirit, in variety of form and manifestation, 
which the creation of God displays, whatever side we 
turn to. 

And if such be the universal frame and economy of 
things, such the order of creation all over, all through, 
whether we look to the celestial intelligences leading 
their blessed lives under the immediate eye of God, or to 
the starry heavens celebrating, by their harmonious revo- 
lutions, the praises of the God who made them, or, from 
the beings above us, we turn and look to the things around 
us, whether the framework of the human mind, or of the 
human body, or of society, or of the animal, or of the 
vegetable kingdom, or of the world itself, which supports 
all this — if all over the works of God the order of things 
which He has established be not uniformity, but, on the 
contrary, an unity of spirit in a beautiful variety of form 
and manifestation, can we for a moment suppose that 
there is no place for such a state of things in the church ? 
If the Father of all has instituted a certain order of things 
in His creation, and holds it out to our admiration every 
where in His works, both celestial and terrestrial, ought 
we not to expect that the frame of that society, which 
consists of His own elect, might be similarly constituted 
without offence ? If He has so ordered His works, that 
even the world, where Necessity reigns, even the brute 
world, yields under His command out of its original unity, 
an admirable and all but infinite variety, can we for a 
moment suppose, that in that nobler sphere of His works 
where the principle of liberty comes into play, it is His 
will and design that all should be confined to a mere uni- 
formity and iteration ? If we see God giving such out- 
goings to His own liberty and intelligence as to produce 
above, below, and all around, an all but endless variety 



THE ANALOGY OF NATURE. 319 

of harmonizing institutions and objects out of the same 
materials; can we suppose, that after having given man a 
ray of that liberty and intelligence which is, as we see, 
ever tending, in this respect at least, to follow in His 
footsteps, and develope variety out of unity, He wills and 
designs, nevertheless, that in the church, which is empha- 
tically His own kingdom, there should be nought but an 
absolute uniformity over all I Can we suppose it to be 
the requirement of Christ, that the church, which is his 
body, should consist exclusively in repetitions on all hands 
of the same member — that every part should present the 
same features, and an identity with every other part ? 
Can we suppose it to be alone agreeable to Him, that the 
church, which is His temple, instead of being built of 
stones, fitted into every part, their form and sizes varying 
with their situations, should be composed of stones all 
similar to each other ? It is not thus, at least, that He 
dispenses the gifts of the Spirit in the church. But here 
our argument merges again into the testimony of revela- 
tion, which has been already considered. 

Confining our attention at present exclusively to the 
analogy of nature, however, does it not lead us to conclude, 
that the form of the church, considered as a whole, or an 
entire institution in harmony with the will and design of 
God, is not to be expected to be an universal uniformity, 
but, on the contrary, an unity of spirit in variety of form 
and manifestation ? The analogy of nature, indeed, like 
all our other arguments, leads to a more symmetrical and 
orderly display of unity in variety than would be attain- 
able by the union of all the evangelical denominations in 
the present day, as the beau ideal of the form of the uni- 
versal church. But, looking forward to this as that which 
will be realized by a triumphant church, during an age 
of millennial glory, may we not safely infer from our 
argument, in reference to the mean time, that such unity 



320 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



in variety as is possible to be attained, is still in harmony 
with the analogy of nature, and worthy to be sought after, 
and good if it were but realized ? 

THE ARGUMENT FROM THE PRINCIPLES OF BEAUTY. 

The idea of an absolute uniformity in religion once 
introduced into the mind, soon suggests a variety of sen- 
timents, if not of arguments, in its own favour. Of these, 
one is the conceived beauty of such an uniformity. And, 
indeed, when we look around us, and become painfully 
impressed, as every one must, by the discords and anta- 
gonisms between sect and sect which now agitate and 
disturb the Christian world and arm the infidel, it is im- 
possible not to feel that that which exists is extremely 
ugly, and that unity were indeed most beautiful in com- 
parison with it. And thus far all is well. Unity is un- 
doubtedly that which ought to be. That, for want of 
which all is going to ruin, as I have endeavoured to set 
forth in the first pages of this work. But here it needs 
again to be repeated, that unity is one thing, uniformity 
another. Not but the substitution of the latter term for 
the former is to be expected ; for the popular mind is, as 
has been already shewn, always materialist in its habits,* 
and, immediately after conceiving such an idea as unity, 
it tends to give a body and a form to that idea, and thus 
to degrade the holy and just desire of the soul for an 
unity in spirit in the Christian Church, into a gross de- 
mand in the imagination for uniformity every where, or 
a sameness of forms over all. And thus, in the popular 
mind, not accustomed to limit itself to accuracy of thought, 
unity in form, not unity in spirit, comes to be regarded, as 
the beautiful in the church, and in the midst of such dis- 
* Page 93. 



THE PRINCIPLES OF BEAUTY. 



321 



cord as now exists, comes to be wished for as a consum- 
mation most devoutly to be desired. But if it be granted, 
as indeed it must, that wbat makes the idea of uniformity 
seem so peculiarly beautiful, is its contrast with the dis- 
cord which at present reigns, this very fact detects the 
fallacy. For to advocate the cause of uniformity as a 
contrast with discord, is to make a most illogical transi- 
tion. Discord and uniformity are things which belong to 
wholly different spheres. In the language of mathema- 
ticians they are heterogeneous quantities, and can neither 
be compared together nor introduced into the same for- 
mula. Uniformity is a thing of form. Discord is a thing 
of feeling. The contrast with discord, in respect of beau- 
ty, is harmony, not uniformity." And, in fact, it is to uni- 
versal harmony in religion, not to an universal uniformity, 
that the enlightened voice of moral taste conducts us. 

What, then, is harmony ? and how is it produced ? If 
we find out this, we shall find what ought to be in the 
church, in so far as this argument can guide us to it. 
We may remark, then, that harmony is not produced by 
a number of strings or pipes, equal in dimensions, sound- 
ing simultaneously, and similarly touched, in a word, 
uniform, and acting with uniformity. This gives mono- 
tony, not harmony. In order to harmony, the strings or 
pipes must be of very various dimensions. Variety is a 
condition indispensable to the production of harmony. 
But if this condition exist, then, though the variations 
amongst the strings or pipes be very great, we may still 
attune them, so as to cause the whole system to unite in 
giving utterance to the most heavenly harmony. In order 
to this, we have only to give ease to one, and to brace up 
another, until we bring the whole to what may be called 
an unity of spirit. This done, each then sympathizes and 
vibrates in response to another, and the tones emanating 
from the whole combination, instead of interfering with 



322 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



each other, follow each other, instead of running against 
each other, and causing collision and confusion, fill up 
each other's intervals, and make the air resonant with 
the richest harmony. The conditions necessary to har- 
mony, therefore, are such as cannot be better expressed 
than by calling them an unity of spirit in variety of 
form. And if the moral taste be seeking the truly har- 
monious in religion, it should be capable of admiring 
unity in variety there also. 

But this is not all. These views do not apply to the 
beauty of harmony only. Unity of spirit in variety of 
form, is the principle of all beauty that is of a high order. 
Uniformity never can give rise to any but the lowest 
order of beauty, unless it be assisted by variety, and even 
in a great measure concealed by it. And, in point of 
fact, those beautiful descriptions of the catholic unity, 
which the poetic authors of the Church of Rome paint, 
when exalting the exclusive beauty and excellence of 
their own communion, though brought forward by them 
to shew the beauty of uniformity, do yet owe their own 
beauty not to that uniformity, but rather to that variety 
in the midst of which the idea of uniformity is intro- 
duced, and by which it is surrounded and set off. It is, 
indeed, a beautiful picture which the poet presents to 
us, when he paints to us the eye of God looking down 
upon the world revolving beneath Him, and bringing up 
successively every people and every land under the light 
of His countenance ; and we behold, in beautiful succes- 
sion, the inhabitants of the mountains, and the dwellers 
on the plains, and the ships on the deep seas, and every 
tribe, and kindred, and nation, as they come up, borne 
on the revolving sphere to the light of the morning, 
singing the same hymn of praise, offering the same in- 
cense, uttering the same prayers, while the ministering 
priest pronounces the same syllables. Perhaps, indeed, 



THE PRINCIPLES OF BEAUTY. 



323 



the taste of the reader may be too strongly tinctured by 
reason to admire uniformity up to the pitch expressed in 
the last clause. But let it be admired to the full, it is 
easy to discover that the pleasing emotions which the 
picture awakes, depends not on the uniformity, viewed 
singly, but only taken in connection with the variety which 
is presented by the poet along with it. For, conceive 
the picture changed in this respect. Conceive, instead of 
mountains and valleys, rivers and seas, Europeans, Asia- 
tics, Africans, all the variety, in short, — conceive that 
the surface of the globe were uniform all over, every re- 
gion and spot similar to every other region and spot, and 
the whole human race uniform also, every man like every 
other man, every town like every other town ; in a word, 
all things uniform, and would there appear any beauty 
in an universal uniformity of worship then ? Nay, would 
not such uniformity, in that case, only add to the mono- 
tony and universal deadness, felt to be so oppressive 
already ? Would not the taste thirst for some variety, 
as for a running stream in a desert ? 

But this argument need not be dwelt upon. It has 
been fully established, that the true theory of beauty, 
when generalized to the utmost, is unity in variety. 
And look to what sphere of the beautiful you please, 
you will find this truth every where exemplified. A 
palace, for instance, how tame and spiritless, when 
every aspect is like every other aspect, every wing like 
every other wing, every window like every other win- 
dow, every column like every other column ! A city, 
how formal and cold, when every house is like every 
other house, every street like every other street ! A 
landscape, how dead, where all is a plain, and there are 
neither mountains nor valleys, nor lakes nor rivers ! In 
order to beauty, there must be variety as well as unifor- 
mity. And hence the reason why nature is so beautiful ; 



324 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



for nature, while it breathes the same spirit every where, 
is full of variety. Look to the starry heavens, how tame 
and flat would even they be, were all the stars equally 
bright, and planted all at equal distances from each 
other ! Would not Night, in that case, be shorn of half 
her glory ? And would not the canopy appear, in that 
case, more like the work of man than of God. But 
look to the sky as it is. Are not the stars, as if constel- 
lated by the very hand of beauty ? How pleasing to con- 
template the various constellations ! There the little 
closely compacted group of the twinkling Pleiades, rising 
out of the east, and the princely Orion lording it over 
all the south ! Here the Ursa Major, his rival in the 
north ; and overhead the curious Cassiopoeia, which, does 
it not add vastly to the beauty of the heavens, zig-zag 
though it be ? But though the variety be so beautiful, 
let it not be thought that it is itself and alone adequate 
to the beauty which it assists. This variety would only 
be bewildering and displeasing, were there no agreement 
among the objects which display it, — no principle of 
unity to form the whole into a system. But that there 
is. There is a certain unity of spirit which pervades all 
the stars, and fills the starry heavens. They all ema- 
nate the same beautiful beams of light. They all move 
in beautiful harmony from east to west, and round the 
pole ! And it is this unity of spirit, in the midst of 
such variety of constellations of form and luminousness, 
which invests the starry heavens with their peculiar 
beauty, and with the power of awaking such a charm in 
the sacred eye of contemplation. 

Now, could we but emancipate ourselves from all par- 
ty spirit and educational prepossessions, each in favour of 
his own sect, and could we ascend so as to be able to 
look .down to the church of Christ, as we are able to 
look up to the sky, why should we be displeased in be- 



THE PRINCIPLES OF BEAUTY. 



325 



holding the variety there which we are charmed with in 
the heavens 1 Were but all denominations united, as the 
stars are, by an unity in spirit, why not regard the vari- 
ous evangelical churches as so many constellations of 
mind, each possessed of its own beauties ? Why not 
view the whole as that very constitution of the kingdom 
of God which is most beautifully suited to the present 
state of the church, whose field is the world ? If, in one 
region of that vast field, we see Christians gathered to- 
gether in the close and friendly compact of Moravian 
brotherhood, why should we wish to destroy them, be- 
cause they are unlike ourselves ? We do not wish to de- 
stroy the Pleiades because they are unlike Orion or 
the Ursa Major. If, in other regions, we find another 
society of Christians still organized according to the 
polity of venerated ages, and submitting cheerfully, and 
counting it a privilege and not a burden, to be under 
episcopal jurisdiction, why should we wish to annihi- 
late the economy which is sacred and dear to them, 
when they do not interfere with the liberty of others ? 
Who would wish to see Orion dismembered because he is 
unlike the Pleiades, and, instead of being a little closely 
compacted group of stars, is a noble-looking and lordly 
constellation ? No doubt, in the history of astronomy, 
we find much mention of his sword. But he never yet 
exterminated a single constellation with it ; and of late 
that matter has been set at rest. For it has been shewn 
that he has no longer a weapon, and that the dazzling 
appearance at his side, which looks like a sword, is but 
the luminous mist of more distant stars, which neither be- 
long to him nor to any other constellation. What though, 
unlike the Ursa Major, "his burning and shining lights"' 
do not possess a parity of brightness, elevation, and dis- 
tance. It cannot be denied that he is most beautiful in 
his own warmer region of the heavens, more so, in fact, 



326 THE ARGUMENT FROM THE PRINCIPLES OF BEAUTY. 

than any thing else that could be substituted in his place. 
And if, in another region, we find the Christian society 
there, constituted, of their own free choice, according to 
presbyterian discipline, why force bishops on them, as if 
denying that every pastor of a parish is a bishop, or as if 
maintaining that it is indispensable to good order in the 
church of Christ to believe that a bishop is essentially 
more than a presbyter. Deny that the presbyterial 
church is a church, will good men believe that you are an 
enlightened Christian for holding such an opinion ? De- 
stroy it, would the beauty of the universal church be in- 
creased by such an act ? Would the beauty of the hea- 
vens be increased if the Ursa Major were away, and if 
Orion were to stretch out his already stretch ed-out arms 
beyond the pole ? If this great constellation of the north 
have a rough and an illiterate name, whether we call it 
the Great Bear or the Plough, ought we not to remem- 
ber that it never sets, and points so directly to the pole- 
star, that it is the very compass of the heavens, and the 
friend and the confidence of all who seek for guidance. 

And yet once more ; as in every region of the world we 
find some Christians associated into independent church- 
es, concentrating each within itself an organization which 
needs only to be expanded, in order to amplify itself into 
presbytery or episcopacy, according to the direction given 
to it, why should we force upon those who are thus spon- 
taneously organizing themselves, conformity to the do- 
minant churches as indispensable to the moral beauty of 
the whole church ? Beautiful as the various constella- 
tions are, each in his own region of the heavens, yet that 
beauty owes much to the single stars that lie between, 
and form a common medium of union between all. Nay, 
shall we not admit that, in order that the whole may be 
complete, and that there may be a society of Christians 
to represent every sinless phase of Christian liberty, there 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 327 

must be a Cassiopceia in the church. But let that pass. 
And let me conclude this argument by simply remarking, 
that, in harmony with the views which have now been 
stated, the inspired writers, when they appeal to the 
beauty of the church, and symbolize it by some beautiful 
figure, always choose for this purpose some object in 
which variety is conspicuous, as well as unity. Of such 
objects, none is more frequently chosen than Jerusalem, 
as has, indeed, been already illustrated ; and whether we 
look to the Psalms, where the beauty of this city is cele- 
brated in the strains of exalted poetry, or to the Apoca- 
lypse, where its plan is laid down in minute description, 
we may equally discover that, whether it be the Jerusa- 
lem that then was, or the New Jerusalem, that filled the 
mind's eye of the inspired one, he lays much of its beauty 
in its mountains round about, its bulwarks, its gates, its 
palaces, its houses, its pavements, its variety in short. 

But here, again, our argument returns upon the testi- 
mony of Scripture, which has been already considered, 
and therefore closes for the present. 



ON THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 

When we consider that true religion, in its purest and 
most spiritual expression, consists in the utterances of the 
heart, the aspirations of the soul to a present God, whom 
we need not necessarily to go to church in order to meet, 
but in whom we live and move, and have our being, 
everywhere and at all times — when we consider that the 
truest religion, the purest piety, is thus an exercise of 
the deepest secrecy, we must admit that the church, 
viewed as an outward institution, exists not so much ne- 
cessarily and for its own sake, as from expediency and for 
the sake of those who are members of it — not so much as 



328 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



a thing essential in the abstract, as that the exercise 
of religion may be put in harmony with the social na- 
ture of man, — in order that the sinful, who are present in 
the assembly listening to the teaching of the word of God, 
and yielding to the holy influence, may be converted, 
and the saints who are present may be confirmed and 
edified by a fit ministry of the word and a solemn and 
suitable observance of the worship of God, and while 
they enjoy communion with God, also enjoy communion 
with one another. But if such be the main object and 
idea of a church, it is plain that the form and constitu- 
tion of that church ought to be suitable to that object. 
Is an universal uniformity, then, or an unity of spirit in 
variety of form, most suitable and fit in the present cir- 
cumstances of the human family ? It is not easy to con- 
ceive a form and constitution of the church that would 
be more unfit, in the present day at least, than an uni- 
versal uniformity over all. Such a state of things would 
be altogether destructive of a spirit of communion. In 
fact, it never could be established but by a prevention 
and suppression of human nature, for to human nature it 
belongs, in all its present movements, to develope variety. 
But the very feeling of prevention and restraint is de- 
structive of the spirit of communion. Communion is the 
heart enlarging itself, and outpouring and uttering truth 
and love in its own feelings and language. The spirit of 
communion is a spirit of conscious liberty, of spirituality 
and choice. It is the enjoyment of the glorious liberty of 
the sons of God. The idea of restraint is utterly opposed 
to it. Nay, the very effort to adhere to a certain form, 
even though it be willingly made, impairs the sweetness, 
and destroys the feeling of communion. Form is the 
parent of formality ; and, in order to communion, every 
thing must be left to the heart. But instead of this, 
where there existed such a rule as an universal unifor- 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



329 



mity, there would be nothing left to the heart at all. 
How different is the treatment which the soul disposed 
for communion receives from God Himself, whether when 
we come to meet Him in private prayer, or in His word ! 
What liberty in the one, what variety in the other ! In 
prayer we can pour out all our hearts' emotions ; and in 
the Bible, whatever our frame when we open the blessed 
volume, if we but know where to look, we will find what 
will comfort us if we are cast down, — what will confirm 
us if we be doubting, — strengthen us if we be weak, — or 
if we are overpowered, raise us above the world and our- 
selves. Far from any thing like a system of universal 
uniformity, there we find a richly varied revelation, now 
clothed in language and ideas of the most rural simplicity, 
now in strains of the most exalted poetry, now in the 
sequences of the severest logic. The Bible, as a whole, 
is a volume peculiarly well fitted for cherishing the spirit 
of communion ; and, for that spirit, would not the church, 
as a whole, be far more suitable likewise, if it displayed 
somewhat of this variety also, than if it were regulated 
every where by the police of an universal uniformity ? 
Yet let it never be forgotten, that, as with all the variety 
in the Bible, there is every where an unity of spirit, so 
must there ever be in the church. 

But while an universal uniformity would be thus alto- 
gether uncongenial with the spirit of communion, it would 
be equally unfavourable in the present day for the con- 
version of sinners and the edification of saints. This may 
be easily perceived, by considering for a moment how 
vast the differences are between man and man, and how 
different, in consequence, must be the moral and religious 
appliances which shall prove equally influential to those 
whose moral position is thus so various. Even in a single 
nation, where a general amount of civilization prevails 

e e 



330 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



over all, some individuals come into being under predis- 
positions extremely different from others. Others exist 
under accidental influences, extremely various. And 
thus, what with variety of natural character, education, 
rank, in a word, all those differences which constitute 
and characterize every individual after his own way, such 
various and different modes of thinking and feeling in 
reference to religion, such variety of spiritual wants, 
come into being, that a ministry and mode of worship 
which would be suited to one could not possibly be equally 
well suited to another ; and, in order to equally influen- 
tial appliances for the conversion and edification of all, 
there would need to be a variety corresponding to that 
which exists in those who are to be the subjects of 
such appliances. Thus, in some individuals and some 
nations the intellectual element is far stronger than the 
taste, than the imagination, than the sensibility ; and, to 
be congenial and profitable to minds of this cast, a church 
polity and Sabbath service must be comparatively simple 
and severe. The objects of faith must be presented to 
the mind as naked as language can leave them ; and duty 
must be enforced by cogent argument, and direct appeal 
to conscience. In some other individuals and nations 
again, the pathetic, the imaginative sphere, the sensi- 
bility, has the ascendant ; and to be equally congenial 
and profitable with such individuals, or in such a nation, 
the scheme of church polity and the Sabbath service must 
be more ornate. The objects of faith must be presented, 
as much as is lawful, in the form of symbolism, the doc- 
trines illustrated by types and figures, and duty enforced 
by pathetic appeals. * 

And, in harmony with this variety in the spiritual wants 
of His children, we find, in point of fact, that the Head 
of the Church distributes his spiritual gifts to it. Of 
this, as has indeed been already shewn, we have a very 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 331 

fine detail in the First Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians.* 
There the apostle shews, in a most instructive manner, 
the unity of the spirit in the variety of gifts, both those 
which were miraculous, extraordinary, and honourable, 
and those which are ordinary and necessary to salvation. 
And what the apostle recounts as descriptive of his day, 
is, in its spirit at least, equally true of ours ; for, with the 
apostle, we may call honourable gifts those which do not 
relate to the salvation of the individual who enjoys them, 
but which are given to certain persons only for the good 
of all; and we may call ordinary and necessary gifts 
those without which we perish, and which we must have 
in -order to inherit eternal life. Among the former we 
may specify the knowledge of ancient and modern lan- 
guages, which enables those who enjoy it to consult the 
original word, to verify the meaning of difficult passages, 
to improve the versions which have been made already, 
and to make new ones — the science of sacred antiquities, 
which is useful and even necessary to him who makes a 
special study of religion, with a view to devote himself to 
religious instruction — depth of reasoning power, which is 
indispensable for exhibiting the truths of the faith before 
an unbelieving world, and for combating successfully the 
objections of adversaries — power of speech and eloquence, 
lively, pressing, persuasive, for preaching the gospel — 
and many other gifts, by means of which, the illustrious 
servants of God have not only instructed and built up the 
church during their life, but have bequeathed, as an in- 
heritance after their death, works, and above all exam- 
ples, which shall be handed down to the remotest poste- 
rity as monuments of their piety and their learning. Now 
it is to be observed, that these so varied gifts are never, 
or almost never, found united in one and the same per- 
son. He to whom God has given a contemplative spirit, 

* 1 Cor. xii. 



332 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



a taste for study, a capacity for erudition, is in general 
but ill adapted for active life ; and, on the other hand, 
he who is disposed for active life cannot bear the solitude 
and the repose of a life spent in study. The learned 
doctor, the profound theologian, has not always the 
facility of speech, the unction, the fluency, the urgency 
necessary to produce, by preaching, a salutary effect; 
and, on the other hand, the popular and persuasive 
preacher sometimes wants the qualifications required for 
handling well the cause of Christianity in the presence of 
skilful enemies. All have the same end in view, all de- 
sire to make known the gospel, all engage in working for 
the advancement of the kingdom of Jesus, all co-operate 
for the salvation of men ; but each co-operates in this 
great work in his own particular sphere, and with those 
personal talents which the Lord has entrusted to him. 
u There are diversity of gifts, but the same spirit." 
Moreover, this variety is found even in the ordinary and 
necessary gifts of the Holy Spirit ; and this may at first 
seem surprising, since, as we have said, the ordinary or 
necessary gifts are those which are indispensable for sal- 
vation, and which no Christian can be without. And 
how, it may be thought, can there be diversity in the 
graces which are found in all, and which are common to 
all ? And if there is no Christian without faith, hope, 
and charity, how is it possible to say that they differ from 
each other in this respect ? Do they not resemble each 
other here ? They do resemble each other. They are 
one in the divine principle of regeneration and of life, 
which is in them by the influence of the Holy Spirit ; 
but the element of regeneration and of life, which is the 
same in all in its essence, is not granted to all in the same 
degree ; and besides, as it has been implanted in a nature 
which, though equally corrupted in all, offers neverthe- 
less, to the action of grace, obstacles of different kinds, 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



333 



there results, notwithstanding the unity of the spirit, a 
great diversity in the operations of grace. Thus, all have 
a sense of their misery, all, in a greater or less degree, 
the hope of their salvation, all the peace of God, all 
the love of Christ, all charity, all humility, all self-re- 
nouncement, all the desire of sanctification. But one 
whose conscience is peculiarly delicate and scrupulous, 
and who has always before his eyes the sublime ideal of 
the vocation to which he is called, has much to do in com- 
bating with sadness and the spirit of oppression. He 
tastes only a peace that is partial, and often troubled. 
Another, on the contrary, who looks less perhaps to him- 
self, and more to the promises of God, enjoys an almost 
continual assurance of salvation. Peace, serenity, joy, 
habitually irradiate his brow. In the former, charity 
manifests itself by an extreme sweetness, by an open and 
frank benevolence, by great delicacy of feeling in his 
daily relations with his brethren ; while in the latter it 
manifests itself by zeal, ardour for the salvation of souls, 
confession of the name of Christ in season and out of 
season, a public and courageous profession of the truth. 
One Christian has more humility, another more disinte- 
restedness and self-renouncement. The one is remark- 
able for his wisdom and his prudence, the other for his 
energy of character and his spirit of enterprize. The 
former is distinguished by the seriousness of his life, and 
his decided tendency to seek sanctification ; the latter 
for the joy with which he makes the greatest sacrifices 
for the kingdom of Christ. All bear the image of Christ, 
their Saviour, and their God ; but the various features of 
• which this divine image is composed stand out more or 
less, are more or less deeply traced in different indivi- 
duals. One and the same liquid may be poured in seve- 
ral vases, but all these vases, which differ in structure 
and capacity, do not contain it in the same degree, nor 



334 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



in the same manner. " There is diversity of operations, 
but it is the same God that worketh all in all." . . . 
God might indeed (for it only required an exertion of 
His omnipotence) have impressed on all the souls of the 
redeemed the same seal of uniformity, and then they had 
all been tender as St John, ardent as St Peter, profound 
as Pascal, or spiritual as Augustine. They had all loved 
and served in the same manner, without any particular 
shade in their piety and in their love. But how much 
more is the wisdom of God, which scripture declares to 
be manifold, manifested and heightened by this multi- 
plicity of forms, under which the work of God is pre- 
sented to us in his elect. The same breath of the Spirit 
animates them, the same glory shines in them, the same 
love constrains them, but they reflect, each in his own 
way, the rays of grace which warm and purify their souls ; 
and from this infinite variety of characters, and modes of 
feeling and loving in the members of the heavenly city, 
there results the most magnificent of concerts, which pro- 
claims, and will proclaim from eternity to eternity, the 
wisdom, and the power, and the love, and the mercy of 
God our Saviour, the liberal author, and the inexhaustible 
source of all these graces. 

In this unequal distribution of his gifts, God has had 
in view not His own glory only, but also the sanctifica- 
tion of His children, whom he prevents thereby from self- 
exaltation. We are naturally so proud, that if we pos- 
sessed all the gifts of the Holy Spirit, in the most emi- 
nent degree, it is incontestable by the experience which 
we too often have of ourselves, that we would become 
vain, self-sufficient, presumptuous, confident in our own 
strength. But God has so ordered things in His church, 
that whatever the number and excellence of the gifts 
with which He has entrusted us, and at whatever period 
of the Christian life we have arrived, He shews us that 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



335 



there still remains much to be acquired by us ; and in 
general, He surrounds us in such a manner that we may 
observe in those of His children whom He has placed 
near us, either superior lights, or more eminent gifts, or a 
more lively faith, or a more ardent love, or a more advanced 
sanctification, so that we may draw, from the examples 
which we have under our eyes, the inference that there 
is more than one evangelical quality wanting in us, which 
we ought to seek after, and that there is more than 
one virtue, of which grace has deposited the germ in us, 
wherein there is need that we make immense progress 
still. Nor is it only in reference to humility that the 
work of our sanctification gains by this varied distribu- 
tion of the gifts of the Spirit, but also in reference to 
charity. This may seem strange at first sight, but never- 
theless nothing is more true. Suppose, in fact, that 
Christians were all enriched with the same graces, to 
the same degree, and in a perfectly similar manner ; as in 
that case they would be no longer necessary to each 
other, and would be sufficient for themselves, they would 
tend to isolation, instead of mutual approximation. Ha- 
ving few wants, and not feeling the necessity of mutual 
assistance, they would remain strangers to sympathy 
and to reciprocal services. Finding in themselves that, 
which in the actual order of providence, they are obliged 
to seek in others, they would be deprived of that, so 
precious bond of communication which establishes be- 
tween them a habitual exchange of counsels and good 
offices, which make correction and mutual watchful- 
ness a duty, and which render patience, condescension, 
and all the fruits of love, necessary to their support. 
But, in the actual state of the church, no Christian can 
spare his brother, for each in particular has faults in his 
character, blanks in his Christianity, and each, neverthe- 
less, serves as a prop and an indispensable compliment to 



336 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 



his neighbour. He who has knowledge as his portion, 
goes to warm his zeal beside him who is fervent in spirit, 
and he who is fervent in spirit, should not neglect the 
advice and experience of him to whom God has given 
prudence. The scribe instructed into the kingdom of 
Heaven communicates knowledge, and the soul whom he 
instructs can give him useful lessons of simplicity, humi- 
lity, and love. The soul solidly built up in the assurance 
of salvation, and radiant with joy, is the support and en- 
couragement of the soul that is timid and but little as- 
sured ; but the latter, though little assured as to his peace, 
but serious in his search after sanctification, can serve to 
remind the former that the kingdom of God is not peace 
and joy only, but also righteousness. One might say that 
the Church of Christ was a vast machine composed of 
many wheels, of which each fits exactly the other to which 
it is applied, moves along with it, and concurs in the har- 
monious movement of the whole ; or that it was composed 
of the stones which enter into a vast edifice, and which, 
from the base to the roof, placed one above another, bind 
and mutually sustain each other, though of different forms 
and magnitudes ; or in fine, to make use of the figure 
which the apostle employs in the passage which has sug- 
gested these remarks, that it consisted of the members 
of the same body, which, though of very various forms 
and structures, are adjusted to each other, so as to lend 
a mutual support, and thus co-operate to the harmony, 
the beauty, the strength, and the agility of the whole 
body.* 

But if thus, in reference even to a single congregation, 
God was pleased, in the unity of the spirit, to distribute 
such variety of gifts, and if, in reference even to a single 
congregation, the fitness and advantages of such variety 
be obvious, how much more in reference to a whole na- 

* See Grandepierre's Sermon on 1 Cor. xii. before referred to. 



THE ARGUMENT FROM UTILITY. 337 

tion composed of individuals differing in education, tem- 
perament, rank, in a word, every social element ? And 
if, in reference to one nation, some variety in the form 
and manifestation of religion be desirable, both as a help 
to communion and sanctification of the worshippers, how 
much more in reference to the whole world, looking to 
it in the varied state in which it exists in the present 
day ? For, however differing in many particulars, yet 
all the inhabitants of any one nation are, on a general 
view, prett}^ equally advanced to the same pitch of civili- 
zation, each in his own sphere. But what vast variety does 
the world display, viewed as a whole ? And if the gospel be 
designed for the whole world, as is not denied, is it not 
plain that the Sabbatli service, and the details of church 
constitution, which are most fit for one place, cannot be 
equally fit for another, which, both for the purposes of 
correction, edification, and communion, would require 
appliances of other forms ? Could the Sabbath service, 
calculated to engage and enlighten the soul of an inha- 
bitant of London or Paris, be equally suited to an inha- 
bitant of Timbuctoo, or a native of New Holland ? If it 
be the object of all religious exercises, to produce a cer- 
tain effect upon the worshipper, as for instance to induce 
him to devote himself to the glory of God and a holy life, 
is it not obvious that the motives which are presented to 
the worshippers, must be such as will affect them ? And 
in order to this, is it not essential that they shall not 
sound altogether strange to the minds of those to whom 
they are addressed, but bear some relation to their moral 
state ; in a word, is it not desirable that the truth should 
be exhibited on one side here, on another side there, and 
that the unity of the faith and spirit of the gospel should 
be manifested in such variety as may be expected to con- 
vince, convert, comfort, and sanctify those to whom it is 
addressed I Looking to the argument in reference to the 

Ff 



338 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



question of fitness and utility, there are certainly no limits 
to the variety which is desirable, provided only that there 
be no schism, no division, no alienation of affection, no 
reciprocal recrimination between Christians. There are, 
indeed, limits to the variations which may exist, but for 
such limits we must look to a higher principle than mere 
utility. And such a principle there is. Whatever the 
variety of form and manifestation resorted to, the unity 
of the faith, the unity of the spirit, must ever be preserved. 
Nothing is more directly contrary to the whole spirit of 
revelation, than that " a man should lie for God," or 
" do evil that good may come." The argument from uti- 
lity, however worthy of being considered, must always 
be kept within the limits which an uncompromising love 
of the truth prescribes. 

THE ARGUMENT FROM THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 

Scripture, reason, conscience, grace, woven into prayers, 
praises, readings, sermons, sacraments, — such are the 
various means supplied to us for attaining to the posses- 
sion of the religion which the Holy Spirit imparts. And 
are they not sufficient ? Yes. What man is there who 
truly desires to live by faith, and lead a virtuous and pious 
life, but feels, and willingly admits, that the means of 
grace are amply sufficient. 

But if it be granted that they are sufficient, or even if 
it be granted that they are all we have, it must be grant- 
ed also, that around those central truths which are plain- 
ly revealed, and which are held in common by all evan- 
gelical churches, there must be a variety of views re- 
specting lesser truths which are not plainly revealed, or 
about which good men differ ; it must be granted, that, 
in the unity of true religion, a great variety of views 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 



339 



must be embraced. For not any one of the four influ- 
ences which have been named exerts such an agency, 
that it conducts all men to the very same results. On the 
contrary, each of them, in each individual on whom it 
operates, produces its own results, — results which, though 
they may all be harmonious with truth, — all the varied 
forms of truth, — all views on different sides and aspects of 
that mighty pillar of truth which sustains the moral uni- 
verse, are yet always harmonious with the individuality of 
the person acted upon likewise ; so that, in detail, there 
must ever be as many actual results in thought and 
feeling, as there are individuals affected. And where 
there is a variety in thought and feeling, there must ever 
necessarily be a corresponding variety in language, if the 
language used is to be equally true in all cases. Among 
all v>ho hold the Bible, there must, indeed, be an unity 
even in language, — to an immense extent, — yes, to the full 
extent of the whole word of God itself ; — a most delight- 
ful consideration. And over all who are duly impressed 
by the means of grace, there must be a beautiful unity of 
spirit, significantly expressed by the term a Christian 
spirit; but, within the compass of that unity, there cannot 
but be a considerable variety in more obscure details. 

Neither reason, nor conscience, nor grace, nor all com- 
bined, are calculated to give rise to an universal unifor- 
mity in views and opinions on such points as are not dog- 
matically laid down, but can only be obtained inferen- 
tially from the word of God. These agencies are, indeed, 
calculated to give rise to a certain uniformity, but it is 
an uniformity in moral effects, rather than in opinions, 
an uniformity in turning men from darkness to light, 
from the service of Satan unto God, that they may obtain 
the forgiveness of their sins, and an inheritance among 
those that are sanctified by faith that is in Christ. In re- 
ference to inferential opinions, no more is uniformity to 



340 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



be looked for than uniformity in original character or 
gifts of the Spirit. There are no elements to produce 
such an uniformity. On the contrary, a variety of views 
and opinions on such matters is surely to be expected, 
from the elements that are brought into play. Thus, as 
to reason and conscience, — are there not arguments on 
all sides of every point that is justly questionable ? And 
as to grace, — the principle of variety in the unity of the 
work of regeneration is so completely recognised by all 
thoughtful men, that those are always censured by the 
enlightened, who lay down cases of individual expe- 
rience as models for all. It is universally admitted that 
the influences of the Spirit are suited in every case to 
the particular circumstances and spiritual wants of the 
individuals called to experience them. And what are 
the fruits of the Spirit ? Are they declared anywhere to 
consist in uniformity in all views and opinions among the 
true followers of Jesus ? No ; the fruit of the Spirit is 
declared to be " love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentle- 
ness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." And when 
are we said to be neither barren nor unfruitful in the 
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ ? is it when we have 
all exactly the same view of every point of church polity 
and abstract doctrine ? No ; it is when we " give all 
diligence to add to our faith virtue, and to virtue know- 
ledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to temperance 
patience, and to patience godliness, and to godliness bro- 
therly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity ; for he 
that lacketh these things is blind."* 

And as it is with reason, conscience, and grace, so is it 
with Scripture. So long as the human mind continues 
to be what it is, or (as this is an outlook longer than we 
need contemplate) so long, at all events, as we continue 
under our probation, there cannot but be a variety of 
2 Peter i. 8. 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 341 

interpretations of Scripture, if interpretations are to be 
permitted at all. In all that belongs to the essentials of 
evangelical religion, indeed, there ought to be, and there 
may well be, an unity of interpretation among all pious 
readers of the word of God; but in many points which, 
being of secondary importance, are not peremptorily re- 
vealed, and can only be arrived at by comparison and 
inference, there cannot but be a variety of views and opi- 
nions. The Bible is altogether framed to admit of this. 
Nay, suppose it were one of the laws under which we 
use our minds, that different pious individuals, contem- 
plating the same subject, arrive at different views, not 
so much because some wander from the truth, while 
others arrive at it, as because each views it only on the 
side next himself, and so that, though there eventually 
results a great variety of views, yet they are all true so 
far as they go, and all admit of being harmonized with 
each other ; and suppose that this variety of view in dif- 
ferent individuals, or this appliance of truth to the indi- 
vidual — this individualization of truth — were a necessary 
thing, in order to our living a life holy and to the glory 
of God, it is not possible to conceive a revelation admit- 
ting better of the action of such a law than that which 
we possess in Scripture. Within the unity of the sacred 
volume a most wonderful variety is contained. Notices, 
more or less ample, are given of the will of God, and the 
duty and destiny of man, from the creation of the world 
to the consummation of all things ; and under the unity 
of the same inspiration, all these notices were penned by 
a variety of different characters, in different periods of 
the world's history, separated from each other by many 
ages. Of all volumes of the same size, the Bible is by 
far the most varied. Yet all this variety is embraced by 
the unity of the truth. Unbelievers, indeed, who have 
taken up the volume with a view to disprove its preten- 



342 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



sions, have thought that they have found many contra- 
dictions among its differing statement. But others, bet- 
ter disposed, have found the work of reconciliation an 
easy task. And it is the opinion of all Christendom, 
that, vastly varied as the contents of the Bible are, still 
there is not a single contradiction within its boards. 
Here, then, in reference to the Bible as a whole, we have 
a beautiful illustration of what must always be looked for 
in interpretations of its more obscure passages, an unity 
of spirit and truth in vast variety of forms and state- 
ments. And here the reader is requested to observe, 
in keeping with the statement which has just been 
made, that we owe the maintenance of this unity amid 
all the variety, to those who, admitting the variety, 
and regarding every statement they find as true, address 
themselves to the inquiry whether the varying state- 
ments may not be reconciled and brought to an unity of 
spirit and truth. 

Now, what is true of the sacred volume as a whole, is 
true also of every doctrinal passage or text in it, when 
expanded in the minds of a variety of readers. The text 
as it stands in the Bible is an unity. It is God's truth. 
But no sooner is it brought home to the minds of a va- 
riety of individuals, and identified with their personal 
thoughts and feelings, than that unity is invariably ex- 
panded into a variety. All are at one respecting the 
words as they stand in the page of inspiration. All as- 
sent to their truth as they stand in the Bible. But one 
reader looks to the truth which he contemplates on one 
side, another looks to it on another, and each developes 
it on the side he is looking at ; and thus, as the result of 
the commenting on any one text by a variety of different 
hands, especially if they are in different periods of spi- 
ritual life, or are of different temperaments of mind, we 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 



343 



cannot but have a great variety of shades both in views 
and opinions. 

Now it is a question in sacred criticism, whether there 
be not in point of fact within the unity of each single 
text of scripture, involved in embryo as it were, as leaves, 
flowers, and fruit are in the seed, a great variety of truths 
and doctrines % It has been maintained by ingenious and 
spiritually-minded men, that every passage in the word 
of God, does really import all that can be got out of it ; 
and much of our most popular preaching is built upon 
the liberties which this system of interpretation alone 
can warrant. But let this pass. Without countenancing 
such an opinion, it is certain that if we but grant to 
scripture any other meanings besides its literal one, we 
must grant that these others can be brought out, only in 
the form of a variety of meanings. It may, indeed, be 
reasonably expected, that while all intelligent readers 
of the Bible are labouring to come at the immediate or 
literal signification of any passage, almost all will agree 
at last. We see interpreters do so in reference to the 
classics, and no reason appears why they should not do 
so in reference to the Bible, especially the New Testa- 
ment, if they would only confine themselves to the same 
strict rules of grammatical construction, and the usage 
of language. But so soon as we admit that, besides its 
primary signification, a passage in scripture has also de- 
rivative or secondary significations, then what is there to 
determine these significations but the peculiar tone of 
the interpreter's religious taste, with which, as has been 
shewn, grace usually acts in harmony ; and what is there 
then to limit these interpretations but his judgment ? 
But taste and judgment vary remarkably among all, even 
the best of men. If, then, we admit a single secondary 
signification of the language of scripture at all, we must 
admit a variety of such significations. We can, indeed, 



344 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



acquire them only in the form of variety. An absolute 
unity in such a case is impossible, except when one per- 
son only is engaged in the work of commenting. 

Are secondary significations then to be admitted at 
all ? Every thing must depend on the answer to this ques- 
tion. Now, that many passages of scripture have such 
significations is certain. For in the New Testament we 
find our Saviour and the apostles thus interpreting many 
passages of the Old. Moreover, in the passages thus 
spiritualized by them, there is nothing which would war- 
rant us in assuming that they are the only passages in 
the whole scriptures which admit of such a treatment. On 
the contrary, the passages alluded to are a class to which 
many besides themselves plainly belong. The only ques- 
tion, therefore, is whether we (the not inspired) are war- 
ranted to interpret the word of God as those did, who, being 
inspired, could not err. 

But be this as it may, the thing is done ; secondary 
means are insisted on very extensively ; and that not 
within the limits which the example of the inspired 
writers would warrant. If a text can only be mani- 
pulated so as to give agreeable play to the religious 
emotions, such a manipulation is thought to be war- 
rantable. In many districts of the country, indeed, such 
a method of handling the word of God is regarded as 
the surest test of piety, and it commands a high de- 
gree of popular admiration. There is, therefore, no like- 
lihood of its soon ceasing. We must, therefore, reason 
upon it as a thing which exists, and which, right or wrong, 
will continue to exist at least until that time (seemingly 
far distant) arrive when persons of mere temperamental 
religion shall have a greater regard for the word of God 
than their own prepossessions, and cease to compact 
their own systems and twist scripture to the support of 
their own impressions. Meantime, while the use of scrip- 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 



345 



ture continues to be what it is, it may be urged upon those 
of this Cocceian school, that it is plainly a matter of 
Christian obligation on them, for it is a matter of sheer 
justice that they who indulge in such a mode of interpre- 
tation should allow others to do the same ; that they who 
have adopted a method of expounding the word of God 
which, when generally practised, must inevitably give 
rise to great variety of interpretation, should tolerate that 
variety which they themselves unite in causing, and ra- 
ther be disposed to believe that that variety is still em- 
braced by the unity of the truth, than to maintain that 
their own view is exclusively the right one. Let such 
free interpreters, bold in affirming, only refrain from de- 
nying, and but little evil will result, comparatively speak- 
ing. Positive views, in interpretation, are always much 
better than negative. For, while each of several inter- 
preters says only — I find such a meaning or meanings in 
the text, — it is still possible that all the meanings thus 
found may be in the text. Though they vary from each 
other, it is still conceivable that they may be all harmo- 
nized with each other, and may be shewn to be all em- 
braced by the unity of the faith. But when each of se- 
veral interpreters says, — I find this meaning and this 
only in the text, and all other views are false, — then here 
there is downright error, possibly in all who interpret 
and vary from each other, certainly in all but one : and 
this is surely a deplorable state of things, a state of things 
growing worse too as the students of God's word increase, 
for, since each maintains his own opinion, and contradicts 
the opinions of all the others, opinions and contradictions 
increase with numbers, and who is to decide where the 
truth lies ? 

The Church of Rome pretends to an infallible guidance 
in the interpretation of scripture ; but every body that has 
inquired into this matter knows, that if there be any 
thing at all special in the case of this Church, it is that 



346 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



the resolution of any difficulty which she gives to any of 
the faithful who inquires, is practically nothing more, and 
can be nothing more, than the view of the individual 
priest who is consulted. Even on a passage discussed 
by the Fathers, it is still the individual priest who inter- 
prets, for the Fathers differ, and the priest must choose. 
His deliverance may, therefore, possibly be much farther 
from the truth than the inquirer's own idea, for the posi- 
tion of a Romish priest is peculiarly unfavourable for dis- 
covering and maintaining the unsophisticated truth of 
God's word. But even though instead of an individual, 
and possibly an ignorant and self-interested priest, the 
interpretations which the Church of Rome gives to those 
who inquire were the views of the whole Church, even 
supposing that there were that consent among the Fathers 
which the Church of Rome strangely asserts that there 
is, still such interpretations were things of mere autho- 
rity after all, and, unless they satisfied the reason and con- 
science of the inquirer, they would never do for intelli- 
gent Christian men. A few long-tormented spirits, in- 
deed, tossed to and fro by every wind of doctrine, might 
be glad to lay hold of them, or of any thing which would 
be a sort of haven to them, and save them from farther 
thought. But, in order to true religion and a well grounded 
faith, reason and conscience must be enlightened and sa- 
tisfied. Mere authority, to which there is no response in 
the inner man, will never do. An appeal is never made 
to authority, but Truth feels that virtue is gone out of 
her. If the perusal of the Bible be allowed at all, and 
in reference to any enlightened people it were as idle as it 
would be injurious to think of preventing it, the right of 
private judgment as to the meaning of scripture must be 
granted. And if so, then variations must be tolerated also. 
They are altogether unavoidable. 

But, in reference to these variations (always supposing 
them not to contradict one another), since they thus 



THE INTERPRETATION OE SCRIPTURE. 347 

appear to be an unavoidable consequence of Christian 
liberty, and resemblances to the word of God itself, why 
should we act in a spirit diametrically opposite to that in 
which we act in reference to the analogous variations of 
the Bible itself. When the apostles, Paul and James, differ 
in their epistles, there is but one desire among all Chris- 
tians, and that is to harmonize their statements, to shew 
that the truth which they discuss is one, and that the appa- 
rent contradiction arises all from this, that they are looking 
at different sides of the truth, and so give different views 
of it. And this is plainly the right spirit in which such 
variations should be treated ; and here and wherever this 
spirit operates, the result is what it ought to be. There is 
harmony and the right understanding of the passages com- 
pared. But when two moderns differ, then commonly their 
respective adherents try only to shew how widely they 
differ, and to make out, if possible, that they contradict 
each other, which, likely enough they do, since people are 
always going out of their way to deny what others believe, 
as well as to maintain what they themselves affirm. 
Now, why this ? Why not bear towards all evangelical 
writers, when they appear to differ, the spirit of recon- 
ciliation which we bear towards the inspired writers when 
they appear to differ. There is this of dissimilarity, in- 
deed, between the two cases, that with respect to the in- 
spired writers, we are sure that however they may at first 
sight seem to differ, yet they never can actually come to 
a contradiction of each other. With respect to unin- 
spired writers, on the other hand, we know, for certain, 
that they may contradict each other. Still the two cases 
are parallel in all their leading features ; and no good 
reason can be given why we should not try to reconcile 
uninspired writers when we see them co-operating to- 
wards the glory of God and a holy life, as we do the in- 
spired writers. May not uninspired writers possibly be 



348 THE ARGUMENT FROM 

at one, though at first sight they seem to differ, as well as 
inspired writers ? If faith assure us that the inspired are 
always at one, should not charity induce us to hope and 
to believe, if we may, that the piously disposed, though 
not inspired, are at one too, though at first sight, and on 
the outside of their words there may seem to be an oppo- 
sition. It is not without good reason that we should seek 
to be guided by such a spirit of reconciliation ; for if we 
act thus in reference to such matters, then, even though 
we should never arrive at the true meaning of the passage 
which we inquire into, nor learn which of all who have 
commented on it is nearest the truth, still our research 
has not been in vain. We have not, indeed, discovered 
its true meaning. But the very obscurity in it which this 
ill success implies, intimates that it is not of the essence 
of faith, so that we may be saved, without knowing its 
meaning, while in the mean time it has become an occa- 
sion for the exercise of our charity, and so has been made 
to minister to its growth. And charity we know to be such 
a grace, that when prophecies have failed, and tongues have 
ceased, and knowledge has passed away, charity never 
faileth, — such a grace, that if we be without it, though we 
understood all mysteries, we are nothing.* 

It is delightful to think that all Christians are at one 
as to the Scripture itself. Let even a long paragraph be 
but from the word of God, it is immediately assented to 
by all as true. Ought not this fact, then, to induce all 
truly pious men to keep as much as possible to the word 
of God, and both to avoid those self-willed transforma- 
tions of Scripture language, and those adventurous extrac- 
tions of questionable significations from particular texts, 
which, if independently true, may be proved to be so on 
their own grounds, and need not be argued out of a text 
which seems to say nothing about the matter, and which, 
* 1 Cor, xiiL 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 349 

after all, are perhaps of no practical value, though sure to 
raise a controversy ? And ought it not also to induce the 
considerate to refrain from those accommodations of par- 
ticular passages of Scripture to serve purposes for which 
it is certain they never were intended, and which they 
know, before they use them, will never be assented to by 
those whom they address. Ought we not also to refrain 
from that scrutiny after hidden meanings to which no 
better principle than curiosity prompts, and over which 
no higher faculty than imagination presides ? 

What a fine example of reverence for the word of God 
does the evangelist John give us in the conclusion of his 
gospel. Peter, having been called upon to follow Jesus, 
asks the Redeemer what shall this man do, alluding to 
John, who was also present. The Saviour answers, " If I 
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee ?" These 
words were remembered ; and having excited the curio- 
sity of the apostles, they began to interpret them ; and 
we learn from him to whom they related, that the pre- 
valent view of the interpreters was that John should 
never die. But how does John himself resolve the ques- 
tion ? What is the specimen of interpretation which 
John himself gives ? In answer to all their speculations, 
he only says, " Jesus said not he shall not die, but if I 
will that he tarry till I come, what is that to thee." He 
merely repeats the Saviour's words, altogether refraining 
from all unholy curiosity as to their signification, and 
consenting to wait until the course of Providence and of 
Grace should unfold their meaning. And I cannot but 
think that there is a good lesson here as to the principle 
of interpretation generally. If John had such veneration 
for the words of Christ that he does not even venture to 
transform them into words of his own, ought not we to 
entertain something of the like veneration, and to refrain 
from indulging in endless and peculiar comments and 



350 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



paraphrases of our own ? At all events, since we are all 
agreed to receive every word of scripture, since, in this 
most essential point, there is unity amongst us all, ought 
we to split upon our own words, our own interpretations, 
our own creations ? Are we safe in doing so ? Is there 
any likelihood of the gain of truth in such a case being 
so great as to compensate the loss of charity ? What if 
it should at last appear, that, in like manner as the course 
of Providence has been framed to a certain extent just 
in order to prove us, so has the word of God been left in 
many parts indefinite just in order to be the wider field 
for charity and humility, and to try us whether we shall 
be satisfied with the word of God in the form in which 
He has been pleased to give it ; and whether we shall be 
actuated towards each other by a spirit of exclusive self- 
esteem and self-rightness, or by mutual esteem and Chris- 
tian forbearance. This were a theme not incapable of 
support. Certain it is, that it were better to be without 
interpretations than without charity. For, without in- 
terpretations, the word of God is plain in all points ne- 
cessary to salvation ; and, therefore, so far as the word 
is concerned, salvation is attainable without a commen- 
tary, but salvation is not attainable without charity. So 
long as we want charity, we still are nothing, whatever 
our gifts besides. 

But while truth admits of this variety of expression, 
let it not be forgotten that there are also errors in reli- 
gion, grievous errors, anxiously to be avoided ; and in re- 
ference to which all means of persuasion are to be used to 
convert those who hold them from the error of their ways ; 
a work rendered extremely difficult by the very circum- 
stance which brings these errors into being. For these 
errors are not in any case the legitimate offspring of en- 
lightened reason, and do not, in any case, maintain their 
credit on the ground of reason. They are always the off- 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 351 



spring of self or of selfishness, making use of reason to 
serve its own purposes. And, therefore, are only to be 
eradicated by a self-renouncement, which argument, ad- 
dressed by another, cannot often effect. But here let us 
illustrate this in a few particulars. 

It is certain that all Christians ought ever to be at one 
in what is in Scripture emphatically called " the faith." 
And, with regard to the substance of this faith, it is cer- 
tain that it is " the faith once delivered to the saints."* 
It is also certain, that when this faith is opposed or sub- 
verted every Christian ought to contend for it. If he do 
hot, he does not act in the spirit of the wisdom which 
is from above, which is first pure, then peaceable, &c."f* 
But to come to an instance. Our Saviour, on a fit occa- 
sion, put to His disciples the question, Whom do men say 
that I am ? and having received from the Apostle Peter 
for answer, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living 
God," he added with striking emphasis, after a blessing 
bestowed on the apostle himself who had given utterance 
to the glorious creed, " Upon this rock I will build my 
church, and the gates of Hell shall never prevail against 
it." And to all this, as to matter of plain revelation and 
trust-worthy history, every Christian feels himself bound 
to give his cordial assent. Up to this point there is an ab- 
solute unity of faith among all professing Christians. 
All, without exception, receive the words of Christ as the 
very truth of the matter. But no sooner is interpretation 
set to work on these words, than a variety of views begin 
to manifest themselves. And, referring to the history of 
the church, we find here, as in reference to every thing 
else which is the product of the human mind, error 
abounding — error on both hands. But yet not all error. 
We find truth filling the middle region, and with this 
pleasing feature too, that it is in the middle that the 

* Jude i. 3, 4. t James iii. 17. 



352 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



breadth and the beauty lie ; while in the extremes, the 
regions of error, both on the right and the left, all is nar- 
row and deformed. But what are the errors of interpre- 
tation here ? To find them we need hardly go to history. 
It is enough to remember that the church is a social in- 
stitution, and that, in reference to all social institutions, 
human beings have various tastes, the extremes being a 
demand, on the one hand, for an absolute monarchy, an 
unmodified deference to authority ; on the other, for a 
pure democracy, a supremacy of the individual will and 
judgment. And we may rest assured that these two 
prepossessions, as our Saviour's words give occasion t<5 
their play, will determine two extreme interpretations of 
His words. Accordingly we find, in point of fact, that 
he who is all for authority, trusting to the semblance of 
literality in his interpretation of the word of God as his 
warrant, daringly maintains, that the rock on which our 
Saviour said that He would build His chorch was not the 
fact of which the apostle made confession, but the Apostle 
Peter himself, who is therefore to be regarded as the 
primate of the primitive church, and the first bishop of 
Rome ! and that the reason why the gates of hell have 
never prevailed against the church is, just because it has 
been built all along on the authority of an uninterrupted 
succession of primates, of whom Peter was the first ! 
Those in the other extreme, on the contrary, who are all 
opposed to the exercise of authority, — the purely demo- 
cratic, — not only repudiate such an interpretation of this 
passage, as they well may, but from the fact, that our 
Saviour uttered His chief denunciations againstthe Scribes 
and Pharisees, those in authority in His day, and chose 
illiterate Galilean fishermen to be the ministers of His 
religion, maintain, that neither ought there to be a regu- 
lar order and institution of a standing ministry, nor ought 
those who engage in the ministry of the Gospel to possess 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 353 

any erudition ! Taking events for principles, and the 
letter for the spirit, they do not scruple to maintain, that 
that which derived all its glory from its strangeness, and 
its strange suitableness to the moment, and owed all its 
success to God's omnipotence, should be taken as the 
type and model of what ought to be in all times. Making 
no difference between the capacity of the human mind 
for the work of evangelizing, then, when it was guided by 
the immediate suggestions of an infallible inspiration, and 
invested with authority by the power of working miracles, 
and now when it is left to a ministry, sustained by na- 
tural acquirements, and the ordinary gifts of the Spirit 
only, they are not ashamed to maintain (claiming as their 
warrant some such promise of Scripture as this, " Seek 
and ye shall find") that, though the whole of true reli- 
gion is to be found in the Bible only, a volume writ- 
ten in Hebrews Chaldee, and Greek, full of allusions in 
every page to the times and people it was first addressed 
to. yet ought there to be no erudition in those who are to 
explain it, and minister religion from it, nor ought any 
one, on any such pretension of superior fitness, and still 
less any one, on any such pretension as lawful calling, 
ordination, or the like, presume to expect obedience, or 
exercise authority in the church. Now these are extremes, 
which all truth and virtue have gone out of ; and, though 
a full toleration is to be granted to those who hold them, 
yet the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, and every 
kind of rational means of persuasion, is to be adopted to 
persuade such persons, if possible, to abandon these ex- 
treme and unscriptural views, at which even common 
sense revolts, and to embrace some one or other of the 
more truthful views which lie between, and within the 
limits of evangelical liberty. These views are very 
various. The Church of England, for instance, lying 
within the limits of the truth on the side of monarchy, 

g g 



354 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



that side where the Church of Rome lies beyond, lays no 
small stress on the personal offices and gifts of the 
apostles, and on apostolic succession and episcopal or- 
dination. Independent churches, on the other hand, 
lying within the limits of the truth on the side of those 
who lie beyond it on the democratic side, lay all the 
stress upon the apostolic doctrines ; while the Presbyte- 
rian Church lies between, and neither disregards orders, 
nor undervalues doctrines. In a word, looking at the 
variety of opinions on the subject of church polity which 
have arisen in pious minds, acting under the conscious- 
ness of Christian liberty, and desiring to interpret justly 
the words of Christ, it is to be observed, that some have 
come to the conclusion that an individual congregation, 
assembling for worship in one place, embraces all the 
elements of a complete church ; that, as to polity and 
government, all such churches ought to be congrega- 
tional, and independent of each other ; and that their 
mutual intercourse ought to be that of brotherhood, and 
advice merely. Others, again, have come to the conclu- 
sion that each congregation, instead of being viewed as 
complete in itself, ought rather to be viewed as a part of 
a whole, a branch of a tree, a member of a body ; and 
that the intercourse between church and church, besides 
being that of brotherhood and advice, ought also to be 
that of judicature, composed partly of clergy, partly of 
laity, assembled in parity. Others, again, have decided, 
that this episcopacy, instead of being composed on a 
principle of parity, and of clerical members only in part, 
ought to be wholly clerical, and organized on a principle 
of Prelacy. And while we thus obtain, from good and 
enlightened men, all this variety of opinion, we find that 
each is fully as much satisfied as another with the views 
to which he has been led. Each is full of the social, 
scriptural, and spiritual advantages of his own ecclesias- 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 355 

tical system. Each is thankful that he is of his own per- 
suasion. Meantime, the apostle Paul says, let every man 
be thoroughly persuaded in his own mind. And really., 
if, with the apostle, we grant this liberty of persuasion, 
and but divest ourselves of party spirit and hereditary 
or personal partialities, and look at these different sys- 
tems of polity in their spirit rather than in their external 
forms, at the features wherein they agree rather than at 
those wherein they differ, and especially if we look how 
each of them is calculated to promote the piety and holy 
living of him who is conscientiously attached to it, we 
will not see reason for insisting that things should be 
otherwise than we find that, under such guidance of the 
Divine Spirit as the church enjoys, they have actually 
attained. We will not see reason for believing, that, 
at the present moment, and in the present state of so- 
ciety, they could possibly be brought to be otherwise 
than they are — always except as to the matter of mutual 
charity and love, to the want of which we may easily 
trace all the evils which now distract and depress the 
church, and prevent a more orderly and beautiful frame 
of things from arising. 

Again, and still in reference to the question of our 
Saviour and Peter's confession, we find, as to doctrine, 
just as to polity, an error on each extreme beyond the 
range of the truth altogether, and also, the truth va- 
riously expressed, lying between. Peter said, " Thou 
art the Christ, the Son of the living God ;" language 
which we are plainly to understand in the same way as 
the Jews did, and we learn their understanding of it from 
the fact, that they charged our Saviour with maintaining 
that He was equal with God ; * — not that they might be- 
lieve in Him, but that they might charge Him with blas- 
phemy, and put Him to death. Now, Peter was a Jew, 
* John v. 18. 



356 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



and would, no doubt, use the expression, " Son of God/ ' 
in the same sense as his countrymen did. Plainly, there- 
fore, when he says, " Thou art the Christ, the Son of the 
living God," he adopts their accusation as his faith. And 
thus, in so far, at least, as the second person is concern- 
ed, we find here the declaration of the doctrine of the 
trinity. Nor are these words of Peter the only form in 
which this doctrine may be expressed. For while every 
one must admit that the human mind cannot fully con- 
ceive, nor human language truly describe, the whole mys- 
tery of the incarnation, it is certain that many books 
have been written on the subject, many discourses deli- 
vered, all of which are true and orthodox, and yet not 
one of them, quite similar to another, either in the defi - 
nitions or illustrations made use of. Here, as elsewhere, 
the truth has been clothed in great variety of forms, and 
is so clothed every day, and still it does not cease to be 
the truth. 

But beyond the range of the truth here, also, we have 
an error on each hand. On the one hand, we have the 
error of tritheism, in which the unity of the Godhead is 
lost in descriptions, in which the three persons of the 
Godhead are represented as consulting together, and dis- 
cussing in eternity, the salvation of man, in language such 
as would be used by three finite separate individuals in 
such a case. On the other hand, we find the doctrine of 
the trinity lost under a mistaken view of the unity of 
the Godhead, and giving rise to a heresy, which, though 
it be a grievous error in itself, is yet but an element of a 
far greater, when it forms part of a system which repu- 
diates the whole of sacrificial religion, and derides the 
doctrine of the atonement ; and in doing so, rejects the 
gospel and libels humanity as insensate, while it desires 
and professes to honour it. For, if humanity in all its 
variety, has shewn one invariable state of feeling and con- 



THE INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 357 

viction, it is that wliich testifies in favour of the need of 
sacrifice to atone for guilt. 

In like manner, were we to take any other elementary 
principle of the Christian economy uttered by our Sa- 
viour, one relating to worship, for instance, instead of 
polity and doctrine, we should find a recurrence of the 
same phenomena, we should find error on both hands, 
and truth between. We should also find that that truth 
is limited, not by the words in which it is expressed, so 
much as by the errors which bound it, Thus our Saviour, 
conversing with the woman of Samaria, took occasion to 
utter the great principle that, under the gospel-dispensa- 
tion, worship should not be confined either to Jerusalem 
or Mount Gerizin ; but that whoso worshippeth the Fa- 
ther acceptably, must henceforth worship Him in spirit 
and in truth. From this we learn, therefore, that in order 
to be truly Christian, — in order to be acceptable to the 
God and Father of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
all worship must be spiritual and true. But good men 
have formed various opinions as to the particular forms, 
seasons, and places of worship, which represent and em- 
body this requisite most completely ; and each worshipper 
finds his own ritual most spiritual and truth-inspiring : 
and each regards his own as that which is to be gathered 
from the analogy of faith, and believes it to be that which 
is most congenial to the will of God. As the extremes 
which lie beyond the range of truth on both hands, 
we may mention on the one hand, that which a priest- 
hood, ever actuated by the same principles, tends to con- 
struct, a system where all is a mysterious symbolism, — 
which says to the laity, " Touch not, taste not, handle 
not," — all a mumbling in an unknown tongue, which 
none can utter but the priest, and which, therefore, tends 
directly to serve the purpose of maintaining the exclu- 
sive privileges and ghostly supremacy of that order. Not 



358 



INTERPRETATION OF SCRIPTURE. 



that we would place such an economy of worship beyond 
the range of truth, because it was well fitted to serve the 
purposes of the priesthood, if it were not otherwise ob- 
jectionable. But every one who grants the exclusive 
authority of the written word, must admit that such a 
ritual as has been alluded to, is often and particularly con- 
demned in the word of God, as one composed of beggarly 
elements, suitable, indeed, to the infancy of the church, 
but contrary to the intention of God, with respect to the 
Christian era. As the limit, on the other hand, we may 
mention such a system as that of the Quakers, who admit 
no rites whatever. Not that the mere consideration of 
unfitness for the purposes of general worship, would war- 
rant an exclusion of such a ritual (or rather absence of 
all ritual), from the range of true and spiritual worship. 
But such a system is contradictory of the authority of the 
New Testament Scriptures. For there we find baptism 
and the Lord's Supper instituted, and commanded to be 
perpetuated ; and we see the primitive Christians joining 
in prayer and praise, and preaching in their assemblies. 
Between these limits, however, what beautiful variety is 
conceivable, and how little is there in the word of God 
to forbid any of our evangelical rituals ? 

Let it also be remarked, that while the church system 
of the Romanist and of the Quaker, and the doctrine of 
the Unitarian, are placed beyond the pale of the church, 
no judgment is made respecting the ultimate destiny of 
any individual, who may belong to any one or other of 
these communions. That is a point, which it does not 
belong to this treatise so much as to touch. It has, in- 
deed, been just affirmed, that the Unitarian rejects the 
gospel. And let him see to that and to its consequences. 
But here it belongs to us only to state the melancholy 
fact. 



THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND. 359 

THE ARGUMENT FROM THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE 
HUMAN MIND. 

In an early page of this work, * I have endeavoured to 
shew that, independently of the testimony both of reason 
and of Scripture as to the nature of true Christian unity., 
and, indeed, antecedently to the application of these fa- 
culties to the consideration of its principles, we are to ex- 
pect, as a natural result of the universal love of order 
which actuates the human mind, a general prepossession 
in favour of universal uniformity in religion, and that, 
even though such an uniformity should be wholly inap- 
propriate or unattainable, in reference to such a society 
as the church. We have also endeavoured to shew, in 
opposition to this prepossession, that not universal uni- 
formity, but unity of spirit in variety of form, is a state 
of things in the church, which is both suitable to such an 
all-embracing institution, and is supported by the ana- 
logy of nature, and by considerations of moral beauty, 
and of fitness and utility. And this being done, it might, 
perhaps, be allowable now to infer, from what has been 
already advanced, that, in so far as reason can decide 
such a question, an evangelical unity in faith and love in 
variety of different communions, is a form of the church 
worthy of being regarded as both reasonable and right, 
in reference to the present era at least. But there is yet 
one other consideration more urgent than any of those 
which have been noticed, on which a few words may, per- 
haps, be well bestowed before we close. I allude to the 
argument arising from the limited powers of the human 
mind. 

It will be admitted, that that is very reasonable which 
necessarily springs out of the very operations of reason, 
* See p. 93. 



360 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



and which is unavoidable, if reason is to be allowed any 
play at all. Now, this is truly the case in reference to 
the point at issue. If reason is to have any sway in reli- 
gion at all, an absolute unity, an universal agreement, as 
to creed, ritual, discipline, polity, in a word, an unifor- 
mity over all, is an utter impossibility as matters now 
stand. Where all minds are impressed by the same pri- 
mary truths, and guided by the same spirit, and animated 
by the same affections, there may, nay, there must be, 
unity of spirit among all. There must be a beautiful 
harmony, both in faith and feeling among all. But in 
order that there should be an absolute uniformity, — an 
universal agreement in all things, — it would be necessary 
that there should be no such thing as individuality among 
men. It would be necessary that the same quantity and 
the same quality of feeling, taste, and reason, should be 
found equally in all men. And in order that all, while 
they agreed among themselves, should also agree with 
the truth, it would be necessary that that ray of univer- 
sal reason, which, as from a higher source, descends into 
the breast of every man, should continue in him in its 
native purity, unmodified and unindividualized by the 
soul into which it entered, and where it was destined to 
dwell. Were this the condition of human nature, then 
we might have absolute unity. But this is far from being 
the condition of our nature as it actually is. In every 
man, reason and conscience are individualized ; and, in 
order to be of any use to man as an individual, they re- 
quire to be so. But hence it necessarily comes to pass, 
that when truth is entertained in the individual mind, 
and enwoven with individual feeling, — as all truth, truly 
believed, ever must be, — then, forthwith, though the unity 
of the truth may be still preserved, variety of form and 
utterance must unavoidably manifest itself likewise. 
The human mind is instinct with self, and desires to 



THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND. 361 

make every thing its own. But it never regards any- 
thing as its own till it sees it in its own light, and through 
the medium of its own feelings. And as this light and 
these feelings are different in different minds, it thus 
comes to pass that one and the same truth is ultimately 
clothed in a variety of expressions by different minds. 
Nay, in many cases, though the same words be still pre- 
served by all who are in communication with each other, 
still, even when using the same expressions, each is at- 
taching his own peculiar meaning to the language he uses, 
so that even before variety of expression begins, there 
is often no small variety in feelings and opinions. More- 
over, it is vain to suppose that the same religious opi- 
nions can be impressed on all, or maintained in all, by 
requiring from all the same formula in words. Not less 
various than the political opinions of a large assembly of 
electors, who all unite in swearing allegiance to the same 
sovereign, according to the formula read to them, may be 
the religious opinions of an assembly, all of whom may use 
the same confession of faith. Nothing but love will ever 
preserve the unity of the faith. Mere words generally 
tend rather to generate strife. Very little is done either 
for the cause of truth or of holiness, when any number 
of men, however great, have been brought to agree to 
use the same confession of faith, the same forms of speech, 
if in this alone they are agreed. 

There is, however, only a small class of truths in refer- 
ence to which this agreement in the use of words is prac- 
ticable. In reference to truths in general, when once 
they have been truly believed and appropriated by a va- 
riety of minds, they can only be announced by those who 
hold them, or be handed from one to another in a variety 
of statements. All such statements, indeed, if their au- 
thors be ingenuous, and have good lights, will still belong 
to the unity of the truth, to the unity of the faith. But 

Hh 



362 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



there will unavoidably be also a certain variety, which, 
even in reference to those who most closely resemble 
each other, will still be discoverable, if not to the eye of 
criticism, yet to the moral taste, inasmuch as one person 
will be found to prefer one statement, another another, 
each finding something congenial to himself in the one, 
which he does not find in the other, and thus demonstrat- 
ing that there is something in the one, which there is not 
in the other. 

An absolute unity of view, in a variety of individuals, 
is altogether unattainable. Differing views of the same 
thing, when the individuals contemplating them differ, 
are altogether unavoidable. This variety is the very 
fruit of reason's growth. Nor is it otherwise with the 
fruits of the spirit. In the unity of His influence, there 
is an ample diversity of gifts and ministries, as has been 
already shewn.* Variety in religious views, arises as 
necessarily from the influence of divine grace, as from 
the exercise of natural reason. But let it be well re- 
marked, that in all such cases, if reason be really acting 
well, and grace be really grace, nothing more results 
than what has been described. There are, indeed, dif- 
ferent views. But they are only different views of the 
same thing. It is still the truth that is seen. Only, one 
mind views it on one side, another on another, and each 
expands and fills his mind with that view of it which he 
takes. He looks only to what he sees. 

Now, from hence (it must be admitted), it follows that 
the opinions of all are faulty — faulty on both sides, both 
defective and redundant. They are defective, because 
they are formed out of a partial and imperfect view of 
truth. They are redundant, because they attach as much 
and build as much upon this imperfect view, as if it were 
the whole truth. But still, though all these views are 
* See p. 331. 



THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND. 363 

thus faulty, there is truth in them all. And if the whole 
truth of any matter is ever to be attained by men at all, 
it will be by viewing all the disinterested conscientious 
opinions of sound-thiDking Christian men with candour, 
and selecting, or at least learning something from each. 
And if the Bible were lost, the best way to replace its 
most important revelations, would be to take all the creeds 
of the evangelical churches, and all the treatises which 
approve themselves to the truly pious, and mark what 
was common to them all, and put that down as the sum 
of the truths of the first class, the undisputed revelation, 
the unity of the faith. But this done, would it be right 
to reject or neglect all the remainder? Though we had 
it in our power, would there be any use in attempting 
to extinguish all variations in matters of indifference ? 
Why annihilate that variety which it would be the first 
fruits of conscience and Christian liberty to reproduce ? 
What is it after all, if it be evangelical, but the truth 
variously expressed and viewed on different sides ? And 
who is he that shall condemn it, if it be based on revela- 
tion, and be but the development of it, and if it testify 
its truthfulness to the heart of him who believes it, by 
ever pointing to the glory of God, and leading to a holy 
life? 

If we adopt the opinion generally maintained, that va- 
riety in religious opinions, and in all that relates to the 
church, has increased since the Reformation, this is the 
strongest of all arguments in favour of the principle, that 
such variety, so long as it is embraced by the unity of the 
truth, is not in opposition either to the religious, moral, 
and intellectual development of the human mind, or to a 
supreme veneration for the word of God. For it is uni- 
versally admitted, that, since the Reformation, the hu- 
man mind has been experiencing a glorious enlargement. 
Since that epoch also, for the first time for many ages, 



364 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



the supreme authority of scripture has been recognised, 
and the contents of the sacred volume have come to be 
generally known. Now, if along with this veneration for 
the word of God, we find variety in religious opinions, 
rather increasing than diminishing, are we not to infer 
that such variety is a fruit of light rather than of darkness, 
especially if, along with it, we find the unity of the plainly 
revealed truth preserved more entire also. And that 
this really is the case, I am persuaded every one will ad- 
mit, who candidly compares the variations which the 
Church of Rome generated during the middle ages, with 
those which the churches of the Reformation have deve- 
loped since. In those of the Church of Rome very ge- 
nerally all unity is lost. The different systems advanced 
by different individuals, and followed by different sects 
in that denomination, stood in direct contrast to each 
other. There was no bond of intellectual unity among 
them at all. Submission to the Roman pontiff was many 
a time the only feature that was common to them. But 
this cannot be called a feature of intellectual agreement 
and unity : for it is a matter of authority at best, and 
was, in too many cases, plainly a matter of necessity, and 
in too many others of pure selfishness. Since the Refor- 
mation, however, in the midst of all that variety which 
the religious world has displayed, and, embracing it all, 
the unity of evangelical religion is maintained in the creed, 
not only of every national church, but of almost every 
sect. The variety lies almost wholly in secondary doc- 
trines and opinions respecting the details of church polity. 
And as to variety in such matters, though it were desir- 
able, certainly there is no prospect of its vanishing, at 
least until some time come when the Christian mind shall 
be under influences altogether different from those by 
which the human mind is now guided. Say that at the 
present moment we are more enlightened, better ac- 



THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND. 365 

quainted with scripture, than any who have gone be- 
fore us, and more deeply sensible of the evils of schism, 
and as anxious as Charlemagne or Hildebrande, for an 
universal uniformity in the church, still how could such 
a thing possibly be accomplished? Were all the best 
qualified in Europe to engage in the attempt, each by 
himself, to construct from history, reason, and scripture, 
what he conceived to be the true creed, ritual, and polity 
of the church, should we not obtain just as many forms 
of these things as exist already, nay, as many perhaps as 
there were of persons who engaged in the work. And if 
this would inevitably be the result, were all who were 
deemed qualified actually to engage in the work, should 
we come nearer our object by forbidding all but one, who 
should be appointed the oracle of all ? When he brought 
his views to light, would all acquiesce, would all adopt 
his digest as their confession ? Certainly not. This is 
what has been tried in the papacy. But though supple- 
mented by the most ingenious and serviceable fictions of 
infallibility and private traditions, that system only held 
some sort of credit with the multitude during the middle 
ages. It could not bear the light. It could not supply 
the wants of individual souls. It could not build up in- 
dividual consciences. It could neither lead individuals 
to Christ, nor could it keep them in the faith. If there 
ought to be such a work as the Decrees of the Council of 
Trent, where all is defined, all fixed, and every variation, 
to which private Christians had shewn a tendency up to that 
date, anathematized, why is the Bible so different from 
it ? Even the catechism of that Council is fully as large 
as a Bible. But the size is all wherein they agree. In 
feeling how different ! Who ever heard of a soul being 
converted by reading the catechism of the Coimcil of 
Trent ? How cold, how dry, how unedifying, how dis- 
gusting its dogmatic strut compared with the variety, 



366 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



the unction, the flow of the Bible ! And so it must be 
more or less with every human production, which at- 
tempts to force on all men who love Christ, an universal 
uniformity. Such an idea is contrary to reason, and the 
very nature of the human mind. The mind is not a sub- 
ject to which force can be applied. Force can only make 
hypocrites at best. Persuasion is the only appliance to 
which human spontaneity will yield. And every man. 
as to many points, has always more persuasive power over 
himself than any other that can address him. 

All things considered, it is not conceivable that, in re- 
ference to the whole of what one holds and believes on 
the subject of religion, even any two men can be wholly 
agreed. Nor is it discoverable how this variety in reli- 
gious opinion could be prevented in different individuals, 
or even in the same individual, in two successive years 
or epochs of his existence. In order to perfect agree- 
ment, it would be necessary that all men should be simi- 
larly constituted in thought and feeling, and that a man, 
after having once learned and apprehended his creed, 
should make no farther progress in religious knowledge. 

It is, indeed, easy to conceive that an individual should 
judge it most wise " to have much that he believes to 
himself before God," and to refrain from uttering or 
committing to paper all that he holds to be true. And 
it is equally easy to conceive that churches in the future 
should avoid the publication of their special creeds like- 
wise ; corresponding to which likelihood, it is pleasing to 
reflect, that, as error vanishes and love increases, and 
those varieties in religious opinion which goodness does 
not prevent are more distinctly seen to be embraced by 
the unity of the faith, the necessity for stated creeds will 
vanish too. 

But though there were no creeds, it would not be pos- 
sible to prevent the individuals who constitute unarticled 



THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND. 367 

churches from forming private creeds each man for him- 
self. For if a man has received anyhow any religious 
knowledge at all, it belongs to the very nature of the in- 
tellectual principle to digest that knowledge (for it ever 
must digest all knowledge whatever) into some sort of 
system. This is the condition under which the intellec- 
tual principle acts. All variety of knowledge existing 
in the human mind does ever tend to resolve itself into 
an unity. Every fact or idea, as often as it is called up 
into the presence of the mind, ever tends to link itself 
to some other fact or idea, until the whole group of ideas 
which constitute the mind's knowledge of that subject 
thus grow into one. And hence, every man who has any 
knowledge of religion, and any intellectual power along 
with it, must, even in spite of himself, have his own opi- 
nions. But, in such circumstances, are we to expect that 
each man's opinions, thus truly his own, will be similar 
to those of every other man, equally truly his own ? On 
the contrary, it is not more certain that all agree in this 
necessity of digesting a variety of miscellaneous ideas on 
any subject into a connected system of thought, than that 
almost every man differs from every other man in his 
means of doing so, and consequently in his success, and 
consequently in his results, in other words, in his opi- 
nions. 

Nor is it only in intellectual power, or power of digest- 
ing ideas, that men differ from each other ; they differ 
also remarkably in temperament and sensibility. And, 
from this fact in the constitution of the human species, 
it must happen that every man's opinions in religion, be- 
sides being a more or less accurate digest of his religious 
knowledge, must also be tinged with the peculiarities of 
his own character. In one man, for instance, whose tem- 
perament consists in the influence of extreme sensibility, 
affection, admiration, yieldingness, his personal creed 



368 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



will be dilated beyond measure in that part which relates 
to the love of God. In another, on the contrary, who 
possesses an authoritative nature, and a severe demand 
for justice, his personal creed will be dilated beyond mea- 
sure in that part which relates to the sovereignty and 
justice of God. 

But, farther, though the intellectual powers and tempe- 
raments of all men were similar, still each man's opinions 
would be more or less different from those of every other 
man, as often as there was a difference either in the 
quantity or the quality of the materials on which each 
mind worked, and of which his opinions were the digest. 
Add to this the limited capacity of the human mind, even 
when assisted to the utmost by Divine grace, for retain- 
ing facts, and still more for viewing them simultaneous- 
ly, and for assigning to each its relative importance, and 
it cannot but be perceived that each thinking man must 
have opinions of his own. It belongs to the very nature 
of the human mind to give rise to private opinions. 
Such a result is necessary ; nor can it be prevented any 
how. Let us withhold the Bible, and forbid all private 
inquiry and speculation on the subject of religion, as the 
Church of Rome does, what is the result ? Why, by so 
doing, we just throw every quick mind upon its own 
fancy for its faith, and force it to create, out of its own 
conceits, errors instead of the truths which ought to have 
been derived from the word of God and the converse of 
the pious. That this is really the case in the Church of 
Rome, is easily to be discovered. Let any one who en- 
joys the confidence of uneducated Roman Catholics mark 
their discourse on religion, he will soon discover that all 
their ideas on this subject, beyond the questions and 
answers of their little catechisms, is a mere dream. 

But while it thus belongs to the very conditions on 
which opinions exist to produce variety in them, it be- 



THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND. 369 

longs also to these conditions to produce unity in that 
variety, in such a case as that now considered. For not 
only are the laws of reason the same in all, but, on 
such a subject as religion, the subject-matter, the primary 
truths, are the same to all. For all equally refer to the 
word of God as their guide and standard of appeal. We 
are, therefore, plainly to expect an unity as well as va- 
riety among the opinions of the pious. And it may be 
safely said, that what exists in the church, in the action 
and reaction between the word of God and the individual 
soul, is a spiritual appliance, not for producing an abso- 
lute uniformity in the universal creed, or an abstract, ideal, 
unapplied faith, but, on the contrary, an unity of faith in 
variety of terms, — an unity of faith in personal applica- 
tion to different tones of intellect and sensibility, — such 
a particularised form of the faith, in short, as may suit 
each individual case, and lead each man who is under its 
influence, whatever his abilities or peculiarities, to seek 
the glory of God and a holy life as the chief end of his 
being. 

Nor let it be supposed that the truth is incapable of 
being clothed in this variety of forms, or of adapting it- 
self to so many appliances. Every time that truth ema- 
nates from the mind of God and assumes a place in the 
mind of man, it naturally and necessarily undergoes a 
change. God sees all truth exactly as it is with all its cir- 
cumstances around it. But God alone does so. Who of men 
will say that he sees any thing just as God sees it \ The 
very thought is impious, and the scriptures assure us of 
the contrary. " My thoughts are not your thoughts, nei- 
ther are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the 
heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher 
than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts." * 
" We know in part, and we prophesy in part." " We see 
* Isaiah lv. 8. 



370 



THE ARGUMENT FROM 



as through a glass darkly." * There are certain classes 
of truths, indeed, which we cannot conceive to be diffe- 
rent either in themselves or in the eye of God from what 
we perceive them to be. But there are other truths 
which, in becoming clothed in the language of men, and 
in penetrating to our minds, unavoidably become tinged 
with some particular colour — tinged with something fo- 
reign (viewed as truths in the abstract), though not in- 
consistent with them as truths, nay, even proper and 
necessary to them as truths designed to affect and influ- 
ence us. " As the rain cometh down and the snow from 
heaven, and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth 
and maketh it bring forth and bucl, that it may give seed 
to the sower and bread to the eater, so it is with the word 
of God that goeth forth from His mouth ;" it does not 
merely echo through the world in a form comprehensible 
only to the Infinite, and return to Him void. It addresses 
the heart of man and embraces it. It clothes itself in 
that language and those feelings which the heart of man 
can respond to, and appears in the presence of the heart 
in the forms which the heart loves. And thus it awakes, 
converts, delights. And thus the people of God, — ani- 
mated by His word in their hearts, as the bud is by the 
heaven-descended rain, — the believing people go out with 
joy and are led forth with peace. All the creation ap- 
pears to them to breathe of the God who made it. " The 
mountains and the hills break forth before them into 
singing, and all the trees of the field clap their hands." t 
To illustrate this subject a little farther, we may say 
that the absolute truth (truth as it exists in the mind of 
God), when it leaves the Divine mind and enters the 
mind of the finite creature, undergoes a dispersion which 
may be compared to that which a sunbeam undergoes 
when it enters a refractive medium, as, for instance, a 
* 1 Cor. xiii. 3. t Isaiah lv. 12. 



THE LIMITED NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND. 371 

rain-cloud. As a sunbeam in these circumstances loses 
its absolute whiteness and invisibility, and is decomposed 
into an all but infinite variety of beautiful tints and forms 
of light, which the eye of man delights to contemplate, 
so the absolute truth, the truth as existing in the Divine 
Intellect (into which all its circumstances and relations 
enter), when it penetrates such a medium as the minds of 
finite creatures, is decomposed into an all but infinite va- 
riety of shades or forms of truth. As in the refracting 
medium on which the white light falls, there is one ray 
which is red, another yellow, another green, another blue, 
another violet, so the absolute truth, as it is in God, when 
it is incident upon the minds of different men, becomes 
tinted, and is as it were red to one, yellow to another, 
and of another tint to a third. It is still the truth. It 
is still light, but it is not the light inaccessible of the 
dwelling-place of the Invisible. It is the light bent and 
suited to the vision of the creature whom it is designed 
to illuminate and conduct to holiness and happiness. 

But let us not dwell on this conceit too long. And to 
conclude, let us state, as the sum of all that has been ad- 
vanced on this subject, that unity of spirit in variety of 
form, is the only condition under which speculative truth 
can exist in the minds of a variety of men. No one thing, 
stated in the same terms, will prove equally affecting to 
all. When men are seeking the supply of what they feel 
to be the wants of their souls, they will ever associate 
themselves, in various groups, around the system of things 
or ministry which affects them most. Nothing but force, 
or a olivine millennial consent, could ever establish or main- 
tain an uniformity over all. And though it were lawful 
in the Christian economy to use force (which it is not), 
and though a force adequate to the effect could be found, 
still the uniformity forced on, could be impressed on the 



372 



CONCLUSION. 



mere surface only. In the intimacies of hearts, there 
would still be as much variety as ever. Since, then, this 
variety must be in the inner man, why not suffer it to 
express itself outwardly ? Better even discord than hy- 
pocrisy. But why either ? Let but all evangelical com- 
munions now existing, cultivate the unity of the spirit in 
the bonds of peace, and the church will in due time be 
visibly one. God's own love will in due time shine forth 
visibly on all his children, and the wants of every soul 
that is seeking salvation will be satisfied with truth. 



CONCLUSION. 

I have now presented my subject under so many as- 
pects, and still confined myself so exclusively to one 
theme, that I fear the reader may be already weary of a 
seeming iteration. Here, therefore, let us conclude, re- 
suming, in one word, that the object of this work has 
been to endeavour to shew, that, where we disagree, we 

WILL BEST ARRIVE AT TRUTH THROUGH THE MEDIUM OF 

love ; and that, where there is a want of a proper un- 
derstanding between different evangelical churches, they 
will soonest arrive at a true assimilation and uniformity, 
by mutual recognition and esteem, and by cherishing an 
unity of spirit in variety of outward form, in the mean 
time. 

There is a marked difference between a church expand- 
ing and changing from day to day, such as that which 
now exists, and a church fully expanded and assimilated 
in spiritual condition all over. And I request the reader 
always to keep in mind that it is to the former only — the 
actual church — which the arguments of this work apply. 
Would that I could assure him also that it is the love of 



CONCLUSION. 



373 



the truth which has led me to ascribe to it less exclusive- 
ness than is usually thought to belong to it. Would that 
I could assure him, that within the unity of the faith and 
of evangelical piety, and the embrace of true religion, 
there may be a variety of opinions, not adverse, but 
highly favourable to the development of man as the child 
of God, an intellectual, a moral and religious being — a 
variety of good opinions, all equally to be ascribed to the 
influence of the same Spirit, breathing with equal kind- 
ness upon many souls, all of which are turned towards 
Him, but with various tastes and capacities. There 
may be a variety of good opinions ; for they all may 
be true, — they all may be but views on different aspects 
of that one column of truth on which the universe is 
established, — which one man is given to see on one side, 
another on another, but no one man to view all round, 
and from base to capital. Very many, and very varied, 
indeed, are those that are born of the Spirit, —patriarchs, 
infants, sages, savages, ancients, moderns, — the children 
of the east and the children of the west, the children 
of the north and of the south. There are amongst them 
many of every tribe, and kindred, and tongue. The elect 
represent the whole of redeemed humanity in all its fea- 
tures. Shall we expect, then, that where there are so many 
varied cords to vibrate in response to the one Spirit which 
breathes upon them, all shall sound in perfect unison ? 
Nay, from such a many-stringed instrument unison were 
a perfect miracle. But who will insist on unison, while 
he may have harmony ? Unison may be ever sweet in 
heaven, but to all, save the wholly reposing ear, it soon 
proves itself to be too monotonous. It never developes 
itself ; and therefore the embodied soul, ever trying to 
expand, soon feels constrained and suppressed, if no other 
food but unison, however sweet, be given to it. But let 



374 



CONCLUSION. 



harmony arise, let some new influence come over the 
melodiously sounding strings, — a new breath of air, for 
instance, on an Eolian harp, — and let this new influence, 
softly, as if by the awakening of the spirit of harmony 
within, cause one new accord, and then another, and then 
another, to arise out of the unison in which they all were 
sleeping at first, until the music of the instrument has 
? expanded into a softly sounding peal of rich and varied 
harmony, — then, how sweetly does the listening ear 
watch the gentle spirit-like stirring among the strings, 
and respond to the dreamy strains that are awoke in 
beautiful succession ! How fondly does it bless the gentle 
breeze which gave such pleasing variety as it passed along ! 
And if it fall, so that the sweet strains die away, and 
nothing but the first monotone is heard again, how sad 
does the then dejected ear become ! — how anxious for 
another breeze ! And when another breeze does come, 
and out of the deep unison which alone survived the in- 
terval, each new note arises, in sweet harmony, how de- 
lighted does the soul become in catching the changeful 
notes which begin to chase each other again, with emu- 
lous sweetness ! Unison is the basis of the whole. But 
yet the unison does not satisfy the embodied soul like 
the harmony which arises out of it. The unity does not 
satisfy the soul without the variety. Unison is more like a 
sound of death than of life. And what makes the new 
accords so pleasing, when they arise, is the idea of an awa- 
kening to life which they convey. 

Now in the visible church, as at present constituted, 
we have an instrument resembling an Eolian harp. Uni- 
son and universal uniformity prevailed long ago when all 
was in the obstruction of death, as all was in the middle 
ages. But the Reformation was a time of revival. And 
when the church was receiving the new life which it gave. 



CONCLUSION. 



375 



the previous uniformity sunk. One truth rose to promi- 
nence here, another there. One evangelical church wit- 
nessed for one great principle, another for another ; and 
no one church witnessed for all that ought to be. No 
one was so highly favoured above all the rest. And thus 
it must be, so long as the church expands and receives 
its new impulses by the method of particular revivals. 
The first free movement of life, in any individual church, 
must destroy monotony. But if it be a movement of the 
Spirit, it will give not discord, but harmony — harmony 
in which truth is always the dominant — and such a har- 
mony is that which ought to be, and might be in the evan- 
gelical churches immediately, if all Christians would but 
feel towards each other as Christians. There is the same 
key-note of truth in every soul, though the chant of diffe- 
rent hearts may express itself in varied phrases. All are 
attuned by the Redeemer to the same salvation. There 
is the same Spirit breathing upon all, and making all to re- 
spond. And let but the medium, in which all move, be 
made kindly to harmonize — let but a medium of mutual 
sympathy and love reach between soul and soul, while all 
look stedfastly to Jesus, and forthwith there will ascend 
from the church into the heavens, a sweetly-pealing har- 
mony that will give joy to the angels, and glory to God in 
the highest. And peace upon earth and good will towards 
men being seen to reign in the bosom of Christians and 
of the church, the world will be forced to say that God 
is among us, indeed ; and there will be added to the 
church daily, again, as there was in the primitive church, 
when all were of one accord, multitudes of men and 
women of such as shall be saved. Infidelity will lose its 
power to seduce the world from true religion. Popery 
will crumble like an old uninhabitable house, and Chris- 
tian liberty and purity of faith will rise upon its ruins. 



376 



CONCLUSION. 



All that we now deplore will vanish away, and there will 
be universal peace and joy. The church will be adorned 
as the bride for the bridegroom. The bridegroom will 
come. The church will enter on the millennium. 

And then that outward uniformity over all, which so 
many are vainly demanding now, will be granted, because 
it will be suitable to the then universally assimilated and 
crowned church. Varied appliances will not then be 
needed ; for then 

" They shall teach no more 

Every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, 

Saying, Know the Lord ; 

For they shall all know Me, 

From the least of them to the greatest of them, 

Saith the Lord." 

Jeremiah xxxi. 34. 



FINIS. 



(3\ 



v * o A 





c5> 




Deacidified using the Bookkeeper process. 
o Neutralizing agent: Magnesium Oxide 
z Treatment Date: Nov. 2005 

PreservationTechnologies 

A WORLD LEADER IN PAPER PRESERVATION 

1 1 1 Thomson Park Drive 
Cranberry Township, PA 16066 
(724)779-2111 



mi r 



^0* 



0 



^0^ 



V 



